Duke, CFO study: CFOs foresee more job cuts, credit woes - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The quarterly Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Businesds Outlook Surveyasked 1,309 CFOs worldwide abou their expectations for the economy. Their answers paintf a gloomy picture for the rest ofthe * CFOs in the U.S. and Europw expected employment to shrinkby 5.5 percent, with the unemploymen rate in the U.S. seen risinyg to perhaps as high as 12 percentr in the next12 months. Employmeng in Asia is expected to recedeby 1.2 percent.
government programs will offset some of these but even the most optimistic governmenty forecasts would reduce the losses by only2 million,” said Campbell Harvey, founding director of the surveyu and international business professor at Duke’s Fuqua Schoolp of Business. “We’re facing the possibility of another 4 milliomnlost jobs.” * U.S. and Europeann CFOs foresee capital spending plungingh by more than 10 In Asia, CFOs anticipate a 3 percengt decline. * Six in 10 U.S. companies coveredc by the survey reported having trouble findinb credit or acquiring credirt at areasonable rate.
Among those firms encounteringcredit impediments, 42 percent say the credif markets have gotten worse this while 23 percent say conditions have improved. * Weak consumetr demand and the credit marketd ranked as the top two external concernsamong U.S. chieft financial officers, with the federal government’s policiez coming in third. Among internal concerns, CFOs are losing the most sleep over theirt inability to plan due toeconomifc uncertainty, managing their companies’ capital and liquidity, and maintaining employee morale.
Despite all the negative a majority of the CFOs in the United States and Asia reportede being more optimistic this quarter than they were thepreviousw quarter. That was not the case in where only 30 percent of the CFOs said they were more compared to the 31 percent who said they wereless “Our survey carries an important message: Don’tr put too much weight on the data like consumer Recovery requires sustained and such confidence is forged by stronger economic Harvey said. “The economifc fundamentals –- employment, capital spending, the cost of credi – are still fundamentally troubling.
” To see the completse survey results, go to the official Web site, .