2013 AFP Business Outlook Survey
Financial professionals remain cautious in their business outlook for 2013 as they expect the U.S. economy to maintain a modest pace of growth and job creation. Specifically, financial professionals anticipate the economy will grow 1.7 percent (real GDP growth) and create 1.3 million jobs during 2013.
These conclusions are based on results of the 2013 AFP Business Outlook Survey, which also show how uncertainty is keeping organizations from making critical investments—e.g., hiring, capital investments—that would ultimately promote further economic growth.
In its ninth year, the AFP Business Outlook Survey also finds the threat of the fiscal cliff is already affecting some organizations’ decision on hiring and capital investment and financial professionals see an even greater negative impact should agreement not be reached.
The Effect of Washington's Perceived Inability to Resolve Budgetary and Economic Issues on Organizations’ Willingness to Invest in Future Growth
(Percentage of Financial Professionals)
*Percentages do not sum to 100% due to rounding
Beyond the immediate issues focused on the fiscal cliff, the survey identifies other areas Washington should address—effective corporate tax rates, taxation on repatriated foreign earnings and regulatory relief—that will ease uncertainty that currently is paralyzing corporate decision making.
Words Used by Financial Professionals to Describe the 2013 Business Outlook
(Top 25 Sized by Frequency Cited)
The 2013 AFP Business Outlook Survey was conducted between November 26 and December 7, 2012 and generated 1,361 responses from corporate practitioners holding a variety of positions, employed across a wide range of industries, including financial services. Financial professionals are responsible for ensuring that their companies have enough cash on hand to fund operations, so they are uniquely qualified to observe business conditions and make assumptions about how those conditions may change over the short and immediate term.