Duke, CFO study: CFOs foresee more job cuts, credit woes - South Florida Business Journal:

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The quarterly Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survehasked 1,309 CFOs worldwide abouft their expectations for the economy. Their answers paintf a gloomy picture for the rest ofthe * CFOs in the U.S. and Europse expected employment to shrinkby 5.5 percent, with the unemploymenty rate in the U.S. seen risin g to perhaps as high as 12 percent in the next12 months. Employmeny in Asia is expected to recedeby 1.2 percent.
government programs will offset some of these but even the most optimistic government forecasts woulxd reduce the losses by only 2 saidCampbell Harvey, founding directofr of the survey and international businesse professor at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. “We’rs facing the possibility of another 4 millionlost * U.S. and European CFOs foresee capital spendinb plunging by more than10 percent. In CFOs anticipate a 3 percent * Six in 10 U.S. companiex covered by the survey reported having trouble finding credit or acquiring credit at areasonabl rate.
Among those firms encountering credit 42 percent say the credit markets have gotteb worsethis year, while 23 percentt say conditions have improved. * Weak consumer demanrd and the credit markets ranked as the top two external concernasamong U.S. chief financial officers, with the federapl government’s policies coming in third. Among internak concerns, CFOs are losing the most sleel over their inability to plan due to economic managingtheir companies’ capital and liquidity, and maintaining employeed morale. Despite all the negative indicators, a majoritgy of the CFOs in the Unitedd States and Asia reported being more optimisticf this quarter than they were theprevious 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 Don’t put too much weighg on the ‘soft’ data like consumer confidence. Recovery requires sustained confidence, and such confidence is forged by stronger economic fundamentals,” Harvey said. “The economi fundamentals –- employment, capital the cost of credit – are stilk fundamentally troubling.” To see the completew survey results, go to the officiall Web site, .