• March 27, 2003

Chief Executive magazine has announced that its CEO Confidence Index dropped across the board for the third straight month in March. The CEO index, at 97.2, is now at the lowest level since its introduction in October 2002. All other components of CEO Confidence also declined in March except for Employment, which rose 2.3 points to 91.0. The Current Confidence of CEOs, dropped 1.7 points to 84.7, the lowest level recorded. Business leaders continue to indicate lower confidence in business conditions, employment conditions and investment opportunities. 63.4% of all CEOs rate current business conditions bad and only 5.0% rate conditions good. Current employment confidence and investment confidence continue to indicate negative ratings with 57.8% of CEOs rating employment conditions bad and 44.6% rating investment conditions bad. The Future Confidence of CEOs also declined 1.4 points to 105.6, as confidence regarding future capital and employment plans continued to deteriorate.