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.

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.

The unemployment rate may be stubbornly stuck above 9 percent and workers in most professions are afraid to ask for raises and feel like they are doing a lot more for the same pay.

However, this is not the case with accounting and finance professionals. According to Robert Half International's 2011 Salary Guide, starting salaries in these fields are expected to rise an average of 3.1 percent in the coming year. Business analysts, tax accountants and financial analysts are among the professionals projected to see notable increases.

More bad news on the hiring front.

CFOs say they are less likely to hire people now than they were three months ago.

It looks like the unemployment rate is going to remain stubbornly high at near the 10% rate for awhile. This is the conclusion of two studies released Tuesday.

For example, 73 percent of employers told Manpower they have no plans to hire people in the second quarter of this year. This sentiment is unchanged from the survey conducted three months ago.