Survey says CEOs not bullish on economy

Top U.S. chief executives expect their industries to fare worse over the next six months as economic growth slows to a snail’s pace, whether the United States is in recession or not.

According to a Business Council survey released Thursday, 81% of CEOs polled by the group expected “sluggish” U.S. economic growth of 0% to 2% this year.

“I don’t know that there’s that much difference in terms of business implications whether there’s a significant slowdown or technically an outright recession,” said Jim Owens, CEO of Caterpillar Inc., at the group’s meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this week.

Almost two-thirds of 83 U.S. CEOs surveyed said conditions in their businesses had worsened in the last six months.

Slightly over half, or 53%, of those surveyed expect those conditions to weaken further in the next six months and 3.6% said they saw the U.S. economy declining during the coming year.

One open question was how long the rest of the world would be able to withstand a slowing U.S. economy.