Confidence among CEOs hits new low

Chief executives are a grumpy bunch these days.

The latest evidence comes from Chief Executive magazine's CEO Confidence Index. The index, which measures CEOs' perceptions of overall business conditions, hit a 10-month low in July, with a confidence level of 5.28 out of 10. That follows a 12% drop in June, the magazine reports.

Moreover, only 41% of CEOs expect to see “good” business conditions in the next year, a 13% drop over the last month and a 42% drop from February.

“Investment in business needs to be rewarded, not penalized,” one respondent says. “Creativity and entrepreneurship are what has built this great nation. Why does this administration want to destroy the essence of the United States?”

Regulation and over-regulation is a big enemy, the survey shows. “Our business is being regulated to death by the federal government with more new regulations coming with the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” says another respondent. “Congress wants business to get going and hire more employees, but the regulatory environment for our business is driving us just the opposite direction.”

Other findings include:

• More than half of the respondents, 61%, expect to see a revenue increase over the next year — down from 74% in April and May and 64% in June. Of those who do expect a revenue increase, 55% think it will be less than 10%;

• The CEOs who expect a profit increase is 52%, down from 55% in June and 66% in May;

• Only 40% of the respondents expect to increase capital expenditures over the next year. Out of those CEOs, 61% say they will increase their investment by less than 10%.

• Two-thirds of CEOs, 66%, expect to either shrink the work force or keep employee levels the same.