Against the backdrop of continued caution about the nation's economic growth prospects, the pessimism about hiring and capital-availability prospects seemed to stand out.

Respondents who said they had hired more workers over the past 30 days increased slightly, to 21% from 20%, while those indicating they did less hiring also increased, to 13% from 11%. But looking to the future, executives saying they planned to increase hiring decreased significantly --- to 18% from 24% -- and the percentage expecting to reduce hiring increased, to 16% from 9%.

Tatum viewed the employment result as "particularly alarming in its magnitude," reflecting a soft outlook on the economy, along with "various uncertainties. "

In terms of financing availability and pricing, there was a slight dip among those seeing an improvement over the past 30 days, to 16% from 17%. But Tatum called the decline in respondents who expected improvement in financing conditions in the next 60 days --- to 11% from 18% -- a subject for great concern. Further, the percentage saying conditions will get worse increased significantly, to 25% from 6%.

"This is the most pessimistic result in the entire survey," Tatum said. "Our respondents report a tightening of credit in the recent past and they then project that it will continue and may even get worse in the upcoming months. Lenders seem to be as uncertain and cautious about the near term future as the rest of us. While increasing the Federal debt ceiling, the legislation did nothing to raise expectations of an improving economy."