Michael Lee Strategy founder Michael Lee explains why he believes the U.S. markets will continue to see growth.<\/p>\n
The U.S. economy<\/u> is poised for a strong recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, but faces fresh risks from a widespread labor shortage and rising infections among the unvaccinated, according to a survey of American CFOs.<\/p>\n
Although 78% of CFOs surveyed by the Deloitte Global CFO Program said that economic conditions in North America are "good" or "very good" – an increase from the previous quarter – only 54% think the outlook is set to improve over the course of the next year.<\/p>\n
US ECONOMY POISED TO GROW AT FASTEST PACE SINCE 1984, OECD SAYS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n The decline in optimism likely reflects the economic uncertainty triggered by a number of external factors such as the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, return-to-work delays, inflation and supply chain disruption, among other issues.<\/p>\n Internally, CFOs cited difficulty attracting and retaining labor and a potential slowdown in return-to-work as the biggest risks facing their businesses. <\/p>\n "Talent and labor have been a perennial internal risk cited by CFOs in our quarterly surveys," Deloitte said. "This quarter, though, concerns over talent and labor and a host of related issues – from retention to morale, disgruntlement, and rising wages – are even more pronounced among CFOs."<\/p>\n Labor Department data shows a growing gap between job openings and hiring that suggests companies are scrambling to find workers, even though the unemployment is still well above the pre-pandemic level. In July, the U.S. had a record 10.9 million open jobs – compared to about 8.7 million unemployed workers. That's about 1.25 jobs for every unemployed person; for comparison, there are more job openings in every industry than there were in February 2020, before the pandemic.<\/p>\n GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Critics have blamed the expanded federal jobless aid, which provided an extra $300 a week on top of regular state benefits to out-of-work Americans, for the labor shortage, although economists have also pointed to lingering health concerns and difficulty finding child care with many schools still closed. <\/p>\n The boosted unemployment benefits officially ended on Sept. 6.<\/p>\n CFOs also indicated that supply chain shortages or delays have weighed on their businesses. More than 40% of respondents said the pandemic-induced disruptions have forced their businesses' costs to rise by at least 5%. Another 60% said this year's sales have either been reduced or will be by the end of the year.<\/p>\n In all, about two-thirds of CFOs – 66% – said they're more optimistic about their companies' prospects than they were three months ago. That's down nearly 10 percentage points from the previous quarter, when 75% said they were more optimistic.<\/p>\n The survey of 96 CFOs was conducted between Aug. 2 and Aug. 14.<\/p>\n