According to Deloitte’s latest CFO Signals report, CFOs are becoming slightly more confident—especially about their own companies—but in North America they’re feeling more pessimistic about the economy in general.

The quarterly report takes the pulse of how CFOs feel about the key issues facing them, including the economy, risk and capital markets. This quarter, CFOs’ confidence has a score of 5.7 out of 10. It’s a slight bump from the last quarter’s 5.4 score, but still in the typical range. Only 19% of those in North America say their own regional economy is good now, but a third say they believe it will be better in a year.

However, CFOs feel great about their own prospects. A total of 90% say they are more optimistic now about their company’s financial future, compared to the last three months. Only 4% are less optimistic. Over the next 12 months, companies are projecting an average of 4.2% annual growth in both earnings and revenue.

Optimism aside, 65% of CFOs say that now is not a good time to take risks. Half of them ranked the biggest external risks as inflation, cybersecurity and interest rates, with the economy close behind as a top external risk. Internally, about half of CFOs ranked talent—inability to hire or retain the right people, or a lack of skills with existing employees—and efficiency and productivity as their top risks.

This survey shows that big question marks that dominated the financial picture for companies—largely what will happen with tariffs—are no longer such looming unknowns. CFOs are still proceeding with caution, but many are confident they can move forward. However, the specter of what might happen in the larger economy looms large.

The CFO’s job is a prime position of handling finance and strategy, but it isn’t necessarily the top rung of the career ladder. Pratik Khowala, executive vice president and global head of transfer solutions for Mastercard—essentially the CEO of Mastercard Move—has held a variety of roles at the finance giant, including two CFO positions. I spoke with him about his career path there. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

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Today, the government shutdown turns a week old, and there is no sign it will be over soon. Monday night Senate votes on bills to reopen the government under current spending levels and to reopen the government and restore cuts to healthcare funding made by President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans both failed to win the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster. Trump has refused most negotiations with Democrats in the lead-up and duration of the shutdown. On Monday, the AP reported he made comments that appeared to show openness to negotiations, but quickly reinforced his earlier talking point: He’ll talk with Democrats about healthcare funding only after they vote to reopen the government.

The shutdown means that many government departments deemed non-essential are closed, so the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not put out its expected September jobs report last Friday. However, writes Forbes senior contributor Teresa Ghilarducci, the report was not necessary to show that the labor market is weakening. Federal indicators pointed to a cooling job market in August, and statistics collected by other sources aren’t getting better. In September, the private sector lost 32,000 jobs, the most since March 2023, according to........

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