Both hiring and capital investment lagged the usual recovery pace. One possible source of this caution was said to be questions about the strength and sustainability of the recovery, accentuated by concerns about terrorism and other geopolitical uncertainties. Many periods of recovery have been accompanied by concerns about economic growth and political turmoil.
But surveys suggest that managers did experience a prolonged sense of gloom, with measures of sentiment dropping to low levels and staying that way for a year or two beyond the business cycle trough.