(DURHAM) -- The most recent quarterly Duke University/CFO Magazine survey of chief financial officers indicates there is a slight chance of a double dip recession in the U.S.  Duke University Finance professor John Graham said even though optimism is up a little, some worry of another recession still lingers.

"There is a 31 percent chance of a recession in the U.S. over the next six months, according to CFOs, so we still have significant downside risk here and, in particular, if Europe gets significantly worse then that could pull the U.S. down and into recession," said Graham.

The survey found that finance executives plan to expand their workforce by 1.5 percent over the next 12 months.  The survey also found that the CFO optimism index rose to 53 this quarter from 49 last quarter. These positive outlooks could point to a drop of the U.S. unemployment from the current 9 percent to 8 percent.