CEOs Show Confidence About Future Conditions

Based on responses from the most recent quarterly survey of business confidence conducted by The Conference Board, optimism reigns just as supremely during the early months of 2002 as pessimism had seemed implacable during the closing months of 2001.

This quarterly confidence assessment surveys approximately 120 chief executives from a wide range of industries. Although it measures only subjective sentiment and not objective plans for specific business actions, it does provide insight into the mindset of business leaders whose decisions drive the economy. As a group, these chief executives are bluntly honest in telling it like it is, and in ordering the painful employment and capital spending cuts needed to maintain or regain profitability.

Chief executives' confidence in the nation's economy increased a breathtaking 26 points during the first quarter of 2002, following cumulative losses totaling 12 points over the final two quarters of last year (in this diffusion measure, a reading of less than 50 reflects more negative than positive sentiment). The Conference Board's Measure of Business Confidence slipped to a bearish reading of 40 during the final quarter of 2001, but then soared to a strongly bullish 66 level in the first quarter of the new year.