Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"This is actually one of the most important indicators in the economy, one that people can keep track of, I think, to get a pretty good take on where the economy is going to go. Corporate profit growth was very, very strong in recent years. In 2004 and 2005, for example, corporate profits grew near 30 percent, and that's after taking out taxes and after adjusting for inflation. I think that's one reason why the stock market has done very well in recent years. But in 2006, corporate profits grew at only a 10 percent rate, and this year (2007) it looks like they won't grow at all (0 percent). The outlook for 2008 is slightly better, maybe corporate profits will be up 3 percent. Now, besides this affecting shareholders and investors in the stock market, as you say, this will affect hiring. The bottom line is, companies need to make profits. The more profits they make, the more they're going to expand. The more people they're going to hire, so I think the somewhat glum look and outlook for corporate profits for '08 is one reason forecasters are looking for a very modest hiring trend next year."