Large-company CFOs believed the US economy was on a strong growth path in the first quarter, according to Deloitte LLP’s first-quarter CFO Signals survey. For the first quarter, 59% of CFOs describe North American conditions as good or very good, down slightly from last quarter’s very high 63%. Only 1% described it as bad, the lowest level since Deloitte began measuring economic sentiment in 2Q13.

This quarter’s net optimism index extended an eight-quarter positive streak and now sits at +34.4, the second-highest level during that period. JCFOs expressing declining optimism about their companies’ prospects fell to 14% from 16% last quarter and ranks at one the lowest levels in five years.

Domestic hiring expectations rose to 2.4%, up from last quarter’s 2.1% and matching their highest level in two years. The median remained at 1.0%, and 58% of CFOs expect year-over-year gains, just under last quarter's 60%.

Country-specific hiring expectations are 2.3% for the US, up from 1.7% last quarter; 1.4% for Canada, down from 2.2% last quarter; and 4.7% for Mexico, down from 6.1% last quarter.

Energy/resources CFOs reported the highest average expectation at 4.0%, driven by strong expectations for a few power and utilities companies, while manufacturing CFOs had the lowest expectations at 0.5%.

The Deloitte CFO Signals survey for the first quarter of 2015 was conducted between Feb. 9,  and Feb. 20, 2015. It included 96 CFO respondents.