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(snip)"Citing uncertainty over the impending “fiscal cliff” and lower demand overseas, an association of CEOs from top companies on Wednesday dropped its growth expectations for the third quarter to the lowest level since the middle of the Great Recession.

The Business Roundtable lowered projections for sales, capital spending and hiring in its latest CEO Economic Outlook Survey to the lowest level since 2009.

The fiscal cliff — an end-of-the-year deadline for a long-term budget deal between Republican and Democratic lawmakers — has businesses putting off hiring and spending decisions, because they don’t know what to expect in the coming months and years, said Jim McNerney, the CEO of Boeing who also heads the Business Roundtable.

“This complete Mexican standoff that we have now is not getting us anywhere,” he told reporters.

Business Roundtable President John Engler called it a “fiscal Everest.”

“This is something that urgently needs to be addressed,” Mr. Engler said. “This is the same problem the NFL is having. The players aren’t quite clear how to play the game, because the refereeing is so bad.”

Mr. Engler urged lawmakers to take action now to avoid the automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to kick if if no deal is made.

“We can lead, but you can’t lead by not making decisions,” he said.

Only 58 percent of the CEOs who responded expect sales to increase, down from 75 percent last quarter, while the number of CEOs who expect a decline in sales nearly tripled to 15 percent, due in large part to weaker demand in Europe and China.

Companies are also slowing capital spending and hiring because of uncertainties in the U.S. tax and regulatory environments. Only 30 percent expect to increase spending, down from 43 percent last quarter, while 19 percent plan to cut back on spending, up from 12 percent.

Meanwhile, only 29 percent expect to boost hiring, down from 36 percent, while 34 percent expect to make layoffs or other declines in employment, up from 20 percent."(snip)