CEO Confidence Index

The closer we come to the election, the more skittish CEOs become about future business.

CEOs are cautious about future business expectations and appear to be in 'wait and see' mode.

Good news: Manufacturing CEOs feel that business conditions are improving.

March's 6.04 rating out of 10 (with 10 being the highest) is the first significant increase in CEO confidence in 5 months. Could it be that CEOs are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel?

There was no difference in opinion based on company size, but there were significant differences when analyzed by industry.

CEOs overall rated their confidence in business conditions 12 months from now a 6.08 on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest), compared with 6.71 in January, a 9.4% reduction caused by a weak economic recovery, flat manufacturing sales, increased terrorism, cybersecurity threats and more.

CEOs’ faith in future business conditions (12 months from now) continues to drop. Respondents to Chief Executive’s November 2015 survey showed a reduction in CEO confidence, down 2.7% from October—and down 9.7% the beginning of the year.

All year, there have been media reports of a flat or sluggish economy, so it’s no wonder CEOs’ confidence in future business conditions is still relatively weak compared with the start of the year.

CEOs’ outlook on the future diverges significantly by industry, with Pharmaceutical/Medical Device leaders having the most confident outlook on future prospects. while energy/utility companies, not surprisingly, have the least positive outlook, and feel that economic conditions, for them, will get worse by next year.