WASHINGTON (AP) — A survey of U.S. chief executives shows the number of large companies that plan to add jobs or hire more workers is essentially unchanged versus three months ago, although fewer expect hiring to decrease.

The Business Roundtable says that 29 percent of its member CEOs plan to increase hiring over the next six months, the same as in September, when the group last released its quarterly survey.

But only 29 percent expect hiring to decrease versus 34 percent in the previous report.

CEOs are slightly more pessimistic about their future sales, capital spending and the overall U.S. economy. Some 17 percent expect their sales to decrease over the next six months, that's up from 15 percent in the September report.