The Brazilian entrepreneur is the least optimistic in the world, compared to countries in Latin America, Europe and the United States. That is what indicates the recent edition of the quarterly research Overall Business Outlook - carried out in a partnership among FGV, Duke University and CFO Magazine, with the support of BMFBovespa and the Brazilian Institute of Finance Executives (IBEF).According to the study, senior executives of Brazil assign a 52.6 grade for their optimism regarding the Brazilian economy, on a scale of 0 to 100. The index has been going down over the last four quarters and it is now at its lowest level. In these last quarters we have seen a continued deterioration in the country's economic conditions. The low economic growth observed in 2013 reflects this trend, explains the professor of São Paulo School of Economics (FGV/EESP) and co-director of research, Klenio Barbosa.Also according to Klenio, the steady decline of optimism that has been observed suggests that one should not expect anything better for 2014. Moreover, the consistent recovery of the U.S. opens up prospects for continuous increase in interest rates in that country, which might deteriorate the pressures on exchange rates and inflation, he warned.The Overall Business Outlook also identified a slowdown in employment growth - both for temporary and permanent jobs - and a reduction in the growth of spending and investment. The projected growth rate for capital expenditures in the past six months decreased from 7.4% to about 4%, and the same has been happening with expenses with technology, advertising and marketing.The survey was completed on March 5 and was attended by the 907 CFOs (responsible for the financial decisions of companies) around the world, including 144 in Latin America, among which 63 were Brazilians.