The nation’s top business leaders are somewhat more pessimistic about the outlook for the economy in the next six months, partly due to uncertainty about the 2016 presidential election, MarketWatch reports. The Business Roundtable, a lobby group for the largest companies in the US, said its survey of top executives found the group's economic outlook fell in the third quarter and remains well below its historic average. Business leaders trimmed their projections for sales and hiring and have no plans to boost investment. The group’s economic outlook index dropped to 69.6 from 73.5. The long-term average is 79.6.

“This reflects the unfortunate new normal — where the US economy is pretty much stuck in neutral rather than moving forward,” said Douglas Oberhelman, CEO of Caterpillar and current chairman of the Roundtable.