Chief financial officers are an optimistic group these days.

While a slew of recent economic indicators seem to point to a slower growing economy, 90 percent of the finance executives are confident about their companies third quarter growth, according to the latest quarterly survey by Robert Half. What's more, 43 percent say they are very confident.

A survey suggests that hiring should pick up as 2011 progresses.

Dice Holdings says slightly more than half (51 percent) of employers and recruiters anticipate hiring more professionals in the second half of 2011 than in the previous six months.  Companies expecting a step-up in hiring in the next six months represented a broad spectrum of industries, including energy, technology, telecom, media, internet, distribution, financial services, consulting and retail.

Here is yet another reminder that job growth will continue to be slow for a period of time.

A survey by Robert Half found that an equal percentage of chief financial officers expect to boost hiring full-time accounting and finance professionals as those who plan to reduce their job ranks.

Employers beware. Your rank and file is becoming increasingly restless as the jobs picture brightens.

Don't be surprised if you see an exodus of employee as more and more of your rivals post "hiring" signs on their websites.

If you are looking for a finance-related job, move to San Francisco.

Accounting Principals, an accounting and finance staffing provider, says the Bay Area state tops its list of best cities to find a job in finance today. The ranking is based on internal data from its branches around the country, taking into account the volume of job openings in the past quarter.

If a top executive of your company suddenly wasn't able to work, who would take over? Chances are the answer is not clear.

It seems a large number of companies do not have a clear cut succession plan currently in place.

The funded status of pension funds slipped for the first time in nine months.

The funded status of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan in May fell 2.3 percentage points to 86.9 percent, according to monthly statistics published by BNY Mellon Asset Management. This also erased nearly half of the gains achieved since the beginning of the year.    

Craig M. Lewis has been named the Securities and Exchange Commission's new Chief Economist and  (RiskFin).

Lewis, the Madison S. Wigginton Professor of Finance at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management, is currently a visiting scholar at the SEC and will assume his new role next month.

Inflation? What inflation?

Pundits are fretting that prices are poised to surge out of control. They are partly pointing to Friday's report that The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4 percent in April, pushing up the 12-month rate to a whopping 3.2 percent.

Employees are once again ramping up their commitment to their 401(k) plans.

Just 2.4 percent of Defined Contribution plan participants stopped contributing in 2010, compared with 3.4 percent of participants in 2009, according to the ICI's latest quarterly study.