8% rate the government’s handling of the economy as very good, 52% as acceptable, 28% could have been better and 8% as shocking. 

The panel predicts interest rates will be at (average) 0.8% in 1 year’s time and 1.88% in 3 years’ time.

Not a single respondent expects the economy to grow significantly over the coming year, whilst 24% expect it to grow marginally.  A further 45% expect it to stay much the same as it is now, whilst 29% expect it to shrink a little and 2% shrink a lot.  These figures are down versus last year.

On the whole the panel are far more bullish about the prospects for their own organisations compared to those for their wider industry.  Someone somewhere is going to be disappointed!

The Retail sector is the most pessimistic, with 92% predicting things are going to get a little tougher / be very hard.  Transport & Travel are the only ones who predict ‘carnage’.   

When comparing US research above with last month’s survey in the UK it is remarkable how the mood in the workplace is so similar on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

We pick out some of the relatively few differences:

 

The UK seems more averse to additional work caused by the economic situation.

 25% of respondents in the UK felt they were being taken advantage of, compared with only 18% in the US. Americans seem readier to accept the extra demands that the situation is placing on individuals.

 

The departments viewed as causing most problems were very similar with a couple of important exceptions. In the US, IT is the biggest problem-causer affecting 24% of executives.  In the UK, IT is number 3 and is only cited as causing problems by 14% or people. 
 

The Finance department is the number 2 problem causer in the UK but is only 6th on the list in the US where it appears not to be a big issue. The UK appears to have an issue with Finance departments getting in the way.

 

People’s worries about their families appear very different.

Top concerns in UK are:

Clearly University fees are new in UK and have always existed in the US. Property in the US remains available at much cheaper prices.

 

In the UK supply remains well short of demand and pricing is (where any property is being sold) relatively high.

 

Finally and most worryingly, business confidence in the US is down and is now at the lowest level since we began our surveys in August 2009.