The leaders of America's top companies are more positive, according to the Business Roundtable's fourth-quarter CEO economic outlook index which measures how CEOs believe the economy will perform in the next six months. The index's survey rose to 79.5 for the fourth quarter from 77.4 in the third quarter.

"This quarter's survey suggests that CEOs, as a whole, still see the economy as steady and that the vast majority expect their sales, capital spending and employment levels to either increase or remain steady in the first half of 2008," said Harold McGraw III, chairman of the Business Roundtable and chairman, president, and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies. "These latest results demonstrate tempered CEO confidence with a slight rebounding of expectations since last quarter."

Thirty-three percent of CEOs said their companies will increase employment in the next six months, 22% said the companies would cut staff, and 45% forecast no change, according to the survey.