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

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The quarterly Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlool Surveyasked 1,309 CFOs worldwidse about their expectations for the economy. Their answerx paint a gloomy picture for the rest ofthe * CFOs in the U.S. and Europe expectecd employment to shrinkby 5.5 with the unemployment rate in the U.S. seen rising to perhapx as high as 12 percent in the next 12 Employment in Asia is expectef to recedeby 1.
2 “Presumably, government programs will offset some of these but even the most optimistic government forecastxs would reduce the losses by only 2 million,” said Campbell founding director of the surve and international business professor at Duke’as Fuqua School of Business. “We’re facingf the possibility of another 4 millionlost * U.S. and European CFOs foresees capital spending plunging by more than 10 In Asia, CFOs anticipate a 3 percengt decline. * Six in 10 U.S.
companies covered by the survet reported having trouble finding creditr or acquiring credit at a reasonable Among those firms encounteringcredit impediments, 42 percent say the credigt markets have gotten worse this year, while 23 percenr say conditions have improved. * Weak consume r demand and the credit markets ranked as the top two external concernamong U.S. chief financial with the federal government’s policiees coming in third. Among internapl concerns, CFOs are losing the most sleepp over their inability to plan due toeconomic uncertainty, managing theird companies’ capital and liquidity, and maintaining employee morale.
Despite all the negative indicators, a majorit y of the CFOs in the Unitex States and Asia reported being more optimistix this quarter than they were thepreviousa 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’t put too much weighf on the ‘soft’ data like consumer confidence. Recoverty requires sustained confidence, and such confidenc is forged by strongereconomic fundamentals,” Harveyu said.
“The economic fundamentals –- employment, capitalp spending, the cost of credit – are still fundamentalluy troubling.” To see the complete survey go to the officialWeb .