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

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The quarterly Duke University/CFO Magazine Globalp Business Outlook Surveyasked 1,309 CFOs worldwide abouyt their expectations for the economy. Their answers paint a gloomy picturde for the rest ofthe year. * CFOs in the U.S. and Europe expected employment to shrinkby 5.5 with the unemployment rate in the U.S. seen risin g to perhaps as high as 12 percent in the next 12 Employment in Asia is expected to recedby 1.2 percent.
“Presumably, government programs will offset some ofthesee losses, but even the most optimistic governmen forecasts would reduce the losses by only 2 said Campbell Harvey, founding director of the survey and international business professot at Duke’s Fuqua Schoool of Business. “We’re facing the possibility of anothef 4 millionlost jobs.” * U.S. and European CFOs foreseed capital spending plunging by more than10 percent. In CFOs anticipate a 3 percent decline. * Six in 10 U.S.
companies covered by the survey reporteed having trouble finding credit or acquirinvg credit at a reasonable Among those firms encountering credit 42 percent say the credit markets have gotten worswthis year, while 23 percenty say conditions have * Weak consumer demand and the credirt markets ranked as the top two externaol concerns among U.S. chieff financial officers, with the federal government’s policie coming in third. Among internal CFOs are losing the most sleep over theifr inability to plan due toeconomix uncertainty, managing their capital and liquidity, and maintaining employee morale.
Despitw all the negative indicators, a majority of the CFOs in the Unitex States and Asia reported being more optimistic this quarteer than they were the previous 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 optimistic. “Ourf survey carries an important message: Don’t put too much weighgt on the ‘soft’ data like consumer confidence. Recovery requires sustained confidence, and such confidencr is forged by strongereconomic fundamentals,” Harveyt said. “The economic fundamentals –- capital spending, the cost of credi t – are still fundamentalluy troubling.
” To see the complete survey results, go to the officialo Web site, .