Finance professionals in America consider that the country is still in recession, despite the economy showing signs of stability in recent months, a latest report has found.
According to a report by the Association for Financial Professionals, finance executives think "the US economy remains in recession, despite indications of economic growth in the third quarter."
They also said their organisations would not resume hiring or capital spending in the next six months.
The report surveyed 982 CFOs, treasurers and a broad range of companies with annual revenues over $500 million.
A whopping 69 per cent of these professionals expect the recession to continue well into 2010, while 20 per cent think the recession will end before the year ends and only 11 per cent think that the US economy is out of recession.
"As we look ahead, AFP will continue to work with policymakers to ensure that financial regulatory reform is balanced and represents the needs of financial professionals," AFP president and CEO Jim Kaitz said.
The report revealed that nearly two-thirds of the executives expect to maintain payrolls at current levels, about 22 per cent expect company payrolls to shrink further while just 14 per cent anticipate that their organization would resume hiring over the next six months.
A majority of the respondents expect to either maintain or further cut capital spending over the next six months. About 21 per cent of the financial professionals anticipate their firms would increase capital spending in the coming months.
As employment and capital spending have stabilised, so has their companies' access to capital. More than half of the respondents indicate that their organisations'access to capital has stabilised over the past six months and 22 per cent said bank lending has improved.
The two greatest risks these professionals see to their organisations in 2010 are low consumer demand and the possibility of a double dip recession.
