U.S. Executives Still See Job Growth Lacking

(Reuters) – Corporate executives said on Thursday that job expansion and long-term business investment are still lacking.

"We're going to wait until I have orders in hand," said John Kispert, chief financial officer of KLA-Tencor Corp., a top manufacturer of equipment used in microchip production, in regards to hiring more workers and making new investments.

"Until we actually see real and sustained jobs growth, the fear will linger," said John Hancock Financial Services Inc. Chief Economist Bill Cheney.

AutoNation Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Jackson, the head of the nation's largest auto dealership group, said employment will continue to lag, noting that "the consumer remains fragile and very value-oriented."

Consumer products maker Newell Rubbermaid Inc.'s president and CEO said the impact of cuts at large companies is still being felt. "There've been so many manufacturing closures and so many downsizing activities in Fortune 500 companies that I still think there's an impact there," said Joseph Galli. Newell Rubbermaid has closed 73 factories worldwide in the last 2-1/2 years. It said on Thursday it moved production from four factories to lower-cost countries, including China, during the third quarter.