Over the past year, chief financial officers have become more optimistic, but nevertheless remain cautious in their outlook on the overall health of the economy according to the first quarter 2010 "CFO Outlook Survey" conducted jointly by Financial Executives International and Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business.

The CFO Optimism Index for the U.S. economy continued rising for the third consecutive quarter, and increased to 58.14 in Q1 2010.  This is nearly a 33 percent increase from an all-time low of 38.96 one year ago, but a modest improvement over the fourth quarter of 2009.

CFOs' optimism toward their own companies rose another two points from Q4, reaching 69.49. This represents an 18 percent increase from what it was one year ago (58.93).  Significantly, CFOs are predicting double-digit percentage increases over the next 12 months in net earnings (26 percent), revenue (13 percent), capital spending (13 percent) and technology spending (10 percent).

Close to half of the CFOs do not foresee the recovery truly underway until the first half of next year, or later.  Their overall concern about inflation is heightened, and 38 percent of CFOs stated their concern has increased since last quarter.

The CFO survey polled 368 corporate finance officers from both public and private companies and across a broad range of industries.