C-Meter: December 2002

The monthly Economic Confidence Meter was little changed this month, unsurprising given the mixed performance of the stock markets and most economic indicators. CIOs' confidence in the chances for a recovery in the overall economy in the next three months fell a tenth of a point, from 5.1 to 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 10. The score for our respondents' industry categories crept up to 5.3 from 5.2, and the score for their own companies rose to 6.2 from 6.0. The transportation sector's confidence in the overall economy dropped by almost half, to 3.0, while computer manufacturing and telecom carriers were the least bullish about their own sectors, at 3.6 and 3.7, respectively.