C-Meter: September 2002

Following last month's steep declines, the September Confidence Meter finished decidedly mixed. Our survey found that CIOs' confidence in the chance for a recovery in the overall economy in the next three months fell another two tenths of a point, from 5.4 to 5.2 on a scale of 1 to 10. But the score for our respondents' industry categories rose a tenth of a point, to 5.5, and the score for their own companies moved up to 6.3. Curiously, the most pessimistic about the prospects for a recovery in their own industries were CIOs in healthcare, traditionally a recession-proof sector. Engineering/construction/architecture was by far the most confident.