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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (11100)	3/31/2004 3:11:49 PM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Funny how the U.S. has a very low unemployment rate compared to other countries isn't it...

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (11100)	3/31/2004 3:16:27 PM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

"Chief financial officers of U.S. companies predict higher levels of capital spending and employment growth than they have for more than three years, according to the March quarterly "CFO Outlook Survey," conducted by Financial Executives International (FEI) and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. An increase in capital spending is expected at 69 percent of companies over the next 12 months, with an average increase of 11 percent, more than double the 5 percent increase expected last quarter. This quarter's cap-ex forecast is dramatically higher than predictions of just a year and a half ago when companies were looking at a contraction in spending. In another positive trend, CFOs predict strong employment growth. Nearly three-fourths of the surveyed companies plan to increase the number of their employees in the coming year, while only 7 percent expect to reduce employment. Overall, the number of employees should increase by a robust 5 percent. This is a significant improvement over expectations of the past three years when forecasts ranged from a decline to less than 2% growth. "CFOs hold the corporate purse strings," noted Colleen Sayther, President and CEO of FEI. "Most have been managing in an environment where spending at a 'normal' rate was not the norm, and spending 'ambitiously' was virtually non-existent. Their predictions this quarter about an improvement in capital expenditures is very good news for the economy, and combined with their predictions about employment levels, very good news for the nation's workforce." prnewswire.com