PricewaterhouseCoopers: Economic Optimism in Decline

NEW YORK, N.Y.—Less than half (45 percent) of U.S. industrial manufacturers are optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next 12 months, down from 63 percent last quarter and 76 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ recent Manufacturing Barometer. Forty-eight percent view lack of demand as a barrier to growth, equal with oil and energy prices; however, most expect oil prices to level off over the next year.