(Bloomberg) -- Employers in the U.S. will probably have to offerbigger pay raises to hire and retain skilledworkers as the labor market tightens, according to a quarterlysurvey of chief financial officers.

About 70 percent of CFOs said they expect to boost worker pay byat least 3 percent, Duke University/CFO Magazine’s global businessoutlook survey of 547 U.S. companies showed Wednesday. Wagepressures are greatest in technology, services and consulting,manufacturing and health care industries.

Bigger bumps in pay have been the missing ingredient in the U.S.labor market recovery as corporate financial positions improve withdemand. Attracting and keeping qualified employees was a top-fiveconcern, according to the survey which also showed the strongestlevel of optimism about the economy since2007.

“The U.S. is finally entering a new phase in the economicrecovery,” John Graham, a finance professor at Duke’s Fuqua Schoolof Business in Durham, North Carolina, and director of the survey,said in a statement. “Finally, we are starting to see wage growthfor employees that outstrips inflation. Given that CFOs expectcontinued strong employment growth, it is surprising that wagepressures are not even greater.”

Sixty-three percent of CFOs said that their companies haverecently increased or plan to raise wages, and 26 percent said itwas because they were having trouble luring or retaining skilled employees.

An improved outlook on business balance sheets and the economymay be the impetus firms need to raise wages. The finance heads’gauge of optimism about the U.S. economy rose to 64.7 in threemonths to March from 63.7 in December. The group’s index ofcorporate sentiment climbed to 67.5 from 66.4.

One potential headwind for companies is the appreciation of theU.S. dollar, helping explain why CFOs project slower growth incapital investment, earnings and technology spending. One in fourU.S. companies with at least a quarter of their sales in overseasmarkets have trimmed business spending in response to thegreenback’s strength.

“We are in a midst of an ugly contest to see whether theeurozone, Japan or Canada can depreciate the most against the U.S.dollar, and China is probably next,” Campbell R. Harvey, a Dukeprofessor and founding director of the survey, said in a statement.“U.S. exporters are being punished by these competitivedepreciations and this will lead to lower profits and lessemployment.”

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