Confidence among U.S. CEOs improved at the start of the second quarter as more business leaders forecast pickups in demand, employment and spending on equipment, Bloomberg reported.

The Young Presidents’ Organization gauge of sentiment rose to 64.1 in April, the highest since the survey began in the second quarter of 2009, from 63.5 in January. A reading greater than 50 shows that the outlook is more positive than negative.

The quarterly survey received responses from 2,582 U.S. CEOs.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents said sales will increase in the coming 12 months, and only 4.1 percent project weaker demand. CEOs also expect hiring will pick up throughout the year at about 42 percent of the businesses surveyed, and only 3.7 percent expect to reduce their employee count.

“After lagging most other regions for the past two years, the United States is now as optimistic as the world as a whole,” said Alan Zafran, a member of the group that conducts the survey and managing partner at Luminous Capital LLC in Los Angeles. “They clearly believe the worst of the recession is behind them.”