CEO Confidence Turns Negative

Boardroom optimism just slipped into the red. A Conference Board survey of 131 Fortune 500 chiefs finds CEO confidence in the US economy dropping to 46 from 52 last quarter, reports Axios, which notes that a reading below 50 reflects negative sentiment. The new figure now roughly mirrors consumer gloom ahead of the midterms. Some 41% of CEOs expect economic conditions to deteriorate in the next six months, more than double the share three months ago.

Driving the anxiety: higher energy costs, a drumbeat of inflation shocks, and escalating worries over cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and geopolitics. Yet the unease hasn't meaningfully curbed spending plans, at least yet. In a separate KPMG survey, 89% of US CEOs said they still anticipate boosting headcount over the next three years as they bet AI will expand, not shrink, their workforces. But that could change, notes Marketplace: It's "hard to grow the business—or hire—when it feels like at any minute, something major could happen and change the entire calculus."