Summary Box: Survey suggests CEOs more cautious about US sales growth, hiring

Summary Box: CEOs more cautious about sales, jobs

LESS OPTIMISTIC: A September survey of top corporate executives said that 66 percent of CEOs of big companies expected sales growth over the next six months, down from 79 percent in June.

HIRING PLANS DECLINE: Dropping optimism about sales growth also weighed on expectations that their companies would add jobs. It was the first decline in hiring expectations since the second quarter of 2009.

SO WHAT?: The Business Roundtable, which conducts the survey, is an association of CEOs of major U.S. companies. Their suggests that weak hiring will likely continue into next year.