By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

ICYMI: CEO Confidence in Economy Drops To Lowest Level in 2 Years

In case you missed it, confidence in the future health of the U.S. economy among U.S. CEOs has dropped to levels not seen since the pandemic began in 2020. The Conference Board's quarterly survey of business executives found that 60% of CEOs believe that economic conditions will worsen in the short term, while 61% said they believe the U.S. economy is doing worse now than it was six months ago, up from 35% in the first quarter of 2022.

Executives' increasingly pessimistic attitudes toward the economy come as inflation sits close to 40-year highs, and businesses struggle to find workers and manage supply chain constraints. The majority of CEOs surveyed said they expect to expand their workforce, while 80% expressed problems with recruiting qualified workers. Over 90% said they expect to increase wages for employees over the next year, while a declining number of CEOs expect to increase their budgets for capital expenditures (money used to add or improve assets for the business).

Nearly 60% of CEOs surveyed said they do expect that inflation will come down over the next few years, and believe the country will have a very short, mild recession (a period of significant decline in economic activity). Twenty percent of CEOs believe inflation will stay elevated while economic growth slows significantly, a scenario referred to as "stagflation."

- Kristin

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Off the Charts

Americans are concerned about the cost of mental health treatment and some have already been forced to alter their therapy sessions as inflation creeps higher, according to a new survey from Verywell Mind.

The survey found that nearly half of American adults in therapy are concerned about its affordability long term, and would discontinue seeing their therapist if their out-of-pocket costs increased.