Business executives are becoming more confident about the U.S. economy as well as their own organizations, according to the first quarter AICPA Economic Outlook Survey, which surveyed chief financial officers, controllers and other certified public accountants in executive and senior management accounting roles.
In fact, the index rose five points to 69 for a post-recession high that matches the score from the first quarter in 2011. The index includes nin equally weighted survey measures that range on a scale from zero to 100. Fifty is considered neutral, and numbers above that mark positive sentiment.
All nine components rose over fourth quarter 2011 readings with the fastest-rising element of the index being optimism regarding the U.S. economy, which increased from 40 points to 61 points. That figure dipped as low as 25 points in the third quarter of 2011. Still, while the component has gone up dramatically over the past two quarters, it continues to be the lowest-scoring measure in the index and remains below the level reached a year ago.
Recommended For You
"Optimists now outnumber pessimists on the U.S. economy by an almost two-to-one margin, which is a striking change from six months ago," says Carol Scott, AICPA vice president for business, industry and government. "While a substantial number of respondents remain neutral, we're seeing a clear shift toward a more positive outlook for the coming year."
Fifty-five percent of respondents also say they are optimistic or very optimistic about the outlook for their organizations over the next 12 months as opposed to 45 percent in the last quarter.
"This is the second strong survey result in a row," says Jim Morrison, CFO of Teknor Apex Co. "We still have a long way to go to feel really good about the economy, but all the arrows are pointing up."
The survey also shows that 14 percent of respondents say they are planning to hire immediately, which is a slight increase over last quarter, and nearly one in five respondents say they need to hire more employees but are waiting for the economy to improve. Fifty-seven percent of respondents say they have the right number of workers.
Over the next 12 month, the technology sector is believed to add the most jobs while health care providers, such as hospitals and nursing homes, are expected to add the fewest. Another 61 percent of respondents plan to expand their businesses at least a little over the next 12 months, and 57 percent of respondents anticipate increasing their technology budgets.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
