Wall Street Journal Online (03/07/12)

U.S. chief financial officers expect to increase hiring by slightly more than 2%, according to a quarterly survey by Duke University and CFO Magazine. The survey for the period ended March 1 showed an improvement from the 1.5% growth expected in the previous quarter, according to CFO Magazine’s Kate O’Sullivan. “It indicates that national unemployment should fall below 8% in 2012,” she says.

More than two thirds of U.S. chief financial officers are trying to fill open jobs, and almost 50% of them are having trouble filling some jobs. However, the U.S. CFO Optimism Index rose to 59 from 53 sequentially, marking a return to the index’s long-term average.