Energy Tops List of Worries

Most U.S. manufacturing industry CFOs surveyed by Bank of America (BoA) are confident of U.S. economic expansion this year but they fear energy costs will hurt manufacturing. BoA says its eighth annual survey of CFOs shows that they continue to view the current state of the U.S. economy in a positive light, giving it an average score of 66 on BoA’s 100-point scale. BoA’s survey of 600 top financial decision makers at firms with sales of $25 million to $2 billion shows that manufacturing CFOs also have a positive view of the world economy, giving it a score of 63, up from 62 in 2004. The bank said 84 percent of CFOs identified energy costs as their most significant concern, compared with 72 percent in 2004.