Q3 2015 survey from the Business Roundtable
Before the retail sales numbers I spoke about confidence and it's effect on the consumer. If we go further up the ladder we get to the players who hold a great deal of responsibility in aiding consumer confidence
CEO's of major US companies have issued their latest economic outlook via the Business Roundtable association and they're not too optimistic on the rest of the year
- GDP estimates have been cut to 2.4% from 2.55 in Q2
- The composite outlook index fell to 74.1 vs 81.3 prior
- Sales expectations index were down 11.1 points
- Capex expectations fell 2.4 pointsd
Chairman of the Round Table and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson summed up the latest feeling;
"The downward trend in CEO plans for investment and hiring continues to reflect reasonable caution regarding near-term prospects for modest U.S. growth. Predictability is critical to spur investment and unlock economic expansion and job growth"
The ball starts rolling at the top. If you want to see a consumer pick up then you need to have jobs and wage growth. If businesses don't feel confident then they keep a tighter grip on the purse strings and the squeeze goes down the ladder. As we enter Q3 the sentiment suggests that things right now are about as good as it's going to get this year