According to the FEI and Baruch College’s CFO Quarterly Outlook Survey, 62% of chief financial officers for U.S.-based companies plan to add to their staff in the next six months and 50% of the CFOs believe the country is in the midst of an economic recovery.
“U.S. CFOs remain particularly optimistic in their companies’ expectations, reflecting projections in net earnings, optimism in the U.S. economy and small dips in unemployment rate,” John Elliott, Dean of Baruch’s Zicklin School of Business, said in the survey’s press release.
The CFOs indicated they would remain optimistic despite oil prices and showed that 42% believed the oil prices per barrel would average $110 and 32% believed the average would be $100. Those CFOs felt the price would not change over the course of six months. The price of oil is currently under the $93 mark.
CFOs, on average, also indicated they were not overly worried about the inflation rates.
From a political standpoint, more than half of the surveyed would give the President and Congress as a whole a grade of a “D” or “F” for their work on healthcare, employment, and the economy.
CFOs may not be pleased with oil prices, inflation rates, and the government’s shortcomings, but their confidence in the economy increased by five points from the previous quarter, according to the survey. The survey reported the CFOs believe they will see a 20% increase in their net earnings, compared to 13% last quarter, which may be the reason for the index increase.
-Dustin Bass, @dbass_cmn
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