Business & Industry
Unemployment and increasing debt and energy prices have CPA financial executives more pessimistic about U.S. economic prospects and increasingly concerned about inflation, according to results released from the AICPA Business & Industry Economic Outlook Survey Q2 2011.
One-third of respondents were optimistic or very optimistic about the U.S. economic outlook for the next 12 months, down from nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2011. Overall pessimism increased this quarter, with 27% of respondents reporting they were very pessimistic or pessimistic about the U.S. economy, up from 18% last quarter. The remaining 40% of respondents were neutral.
Optimism for respondents’ own organizations dipped this quarter as well, but not as dramatically as optimism for the U.S. economy.
Overall, 54% were optimistic or very optimistic about economic prospects for their own organizations over the next 12 months, down from 57% in the first quarter of this year. Seventeen percent were pessimistic or very pessimistic about the prospects for their own organizations, and 29% were neutral. By industry, CPA executives in the technology and retail trade sectors were the most optimistic, while those employed by health care providers and construction companies were the most pessimistic about their organizations’ prospects.
Full survey results are available at aicpa.org/cpaoutlook.
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