Economic Outlooks Stabilizing

The opinions of Vermont’s leading employers continue to reflect the strain of the current global recession, according to the results of the Roundtable’s 2009 Q2 economic outlook survey that concluded earlier this month. On the whole, though, members seem to have stabilized in their outlooks, if not begun turning in a more positive direction; more CEOs are expecting their sales to increase in the next six months while negative outlooks for capital expenditures and employment levels have decreased.These results trend similarly to the National Business Roundtable’s survey results for the same timeframe. “Conditions – while still negative – appear to have begun to stabilize”, said its Chairman, Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications. To read previous Business Roundtable surveys visit www.businessroundtable.org/ceo_survey.

On another front, according to a survey conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and released in the WSJ last week, some companies may be in a mode of permanent downsizing, and expect to employer fewer people in three to five years than they did before the recession. Will Vermont companies return to the status quo, or will they join their national counterparts? Too soon to know. Good news though, is that an increasing number of WWW survey respondents believe that their companies’ results have already “bottomed out.” For more on this survey, click on http://www.watsonwyatt.com/news/press.asp?ID=21528