WASHINGTON – A survey of chief executives shows fewer large U.S. companies plan to hire or boost spending in the next six months, reflecting a weaker U.S. economy.

The Business Roundtable says 36 percent of its CEO members plan to add workers over the next six months. That's down from 42 percent when the survey was last taken three months ago.

Jim McNerney, the group's chairman and CEO of The Boeing Co., blamed the dip in sentiment on "concern over increasingly persistent obstacles to a stronger recovery." Those include uncertainty over potential U.S. tax increases and spending cuts early next year and Europe's financial crisis.