CEOs expect 2014 gross domestic product growth of 2.3 percent, below-normal growth compared to past economic recoveries, according to the Business Roundtable’s second-quarter 2014 CEO Economic Outlook Survey. The first-quarter estimate for 2014 GDP growth was 2.4 percent.

CEOs also expect a decline in expectations for capital expenditures, and a moderate improvement in the outlook for sales and hiring over the next six months, according to the survey.

The survey found 43 percent of respondents expect their company’s U.S. employment to increase in the next six months, up from 37 percent who said the same in the first quarter; 14 percent expect employment to decrease in the next six months and 43 percent expect no change.

“CEO expectations for both investment and growth remain well below the potential of the U.S. economy and below what we should be experiencing at this stage of a recovery,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman of Business Roundtable and chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. “Congress and the Administration must focus on policies that drive economic growth, including tax reform, immigration reform, trade expansion and long-term fiscal stability. The first step toward immediate growth should be passage of business tax extenders legislation that serves as a bridge to tax reform.”

The Business Roundtable is an association of CEOs. The second quarter 2014 survey included 131 member CEOs and was completed between May 14 and June 4, 2014.