Survey: CEOs Expect Hiring, Spending To Grow

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NEW YORK (AP) - More than half of the chief executives of large U.S. companies said they expect to spend and hire more over the next six months despite slower economic growth.

The Business Roundtable says that 51 percent of CEOs polled expect to increase hiring. Last quarter's level of 52 percent had been the highest since the trade group began surveying its members in 2002.

The survey began in mid-May and ended on June 3, the day the government released a May jobs report, which showed a steep pullback in hiring by employers. The unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent.

The survey drew responses from 135 CEOs.

Business Roundtable represents CEOs from the nation's 200 largest companies, which have had pretty steady hiring plans in recent months, said the group's chairman, Ivan Seidenberg, who is also the CEO of Verizon Communications Inc.

Small businesses, on the other hand, have had a harder time accessing credit and have been much slower to add back jobs lost during the recession.

A national survey of small business owners, also released showed declining optimism among owners of small businesses, the third straight monthly drop. According to the survey of 733 businesses by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, small businesses have added almost no jobs in the past three months as sales remain weak and costs rise.

Tali Arbel

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