Survey of CEOs suggests summer slowdown hit execs’ optimisim; hiring plans not as rosy

Survey: CEOs more cautious than they were in June

NEW YORK — A business group’s survey says CEOs aren’t quite as optimistic about sales growth now as they were in June, suggesting that plans to hire more workers may be on hold.

The Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of big U.S. companies, says two-thirds of the chief executives it surveyed in September expected sales to grow. That is down from 79 percent who said they expected sales growth in June.

The September survey also shows only 31 percent of CEOs expect to boost their payrolls in the next six months. That is down from 39 percent who said in a June survey that they expected a bigger work force. The June percentage had been the highest level since mid-2007.