C-Meter: January 2002

In the largest leap in its history, The Confidence Meter this month rated the chances that the overall economy would recover in the next 90 days a 5.9 on a scale of 1 to 10, a full percentage point higher than last month's 4.9. Yet CIOs estimated the chances for recovery in their own industries at 6.1, just half a percentage point higher, while the score for their own companies, 6.7, barely rose at all. Most bullish was the federal government sector, at 6.6 for the economy and 6.7 for its own sector—not surprising, given the recent loosening of the purse strings there. Most pessimistic was media/publishing/advertising, at 5.3 for the economy and 5.7 for its own industry.