More US Firms Not Hiring— Thanks to Europe?

US firms are getting nervous about the transatlantic effects of Europe's debt crisis—and fewer of them foresee hiring anytime soon. In early April, 39% of US companies polled planned to hire sometime within the next six months; by June that figure was down to 23%, the National Association for Business Economics finds.

And Europe could be part of the reason why. The NABE survey found that 47% of companies believe European troubles have hurt their sales figures, Reuters reports; that percentage stood at about 25% in the earlier poll. Moreover, nearly four in five companies offering goods, rather than services, felt Europe's crisis had hurt revenues.