Surveys Disagree on Confidence of Business Leaders

Business leaders are substantially less confident now about business conditions than they were in the first quarter, the Conference Board said Monday.

However, Dun & Bradstreet reported separately Monday that business leaders remain highly optimistic about business activity in the third quarter, despite fluctuations in federal economic statistics and mixed forecasts from analysts.

The Conference Board, a business-sponsored research group, said its measure of business confidence stands at 52, down nine points over the past three months to its lowest reading since the second quarter of 1982.

It is based on survey responses from about 1,500 U.S. chief executives representing business of all types and sizes, it says.

But Dun & Bradstreet, a business information company, said results of its latest quarterly nationwide survey of 1,400 business executives showed that expectations for higher sales and profits in the third quarter remain strong.