The folks who tell the folks at companies about how much money they have to spend have become more optimistic about hiring.

A new survey by Bank of America says that 47 percent of chief financial officers polled expect their companies to hire more workers in 2011, up from 28 percent in the same survey last year. On the reverse side of the jobs coin, only 6 percent foresee more layoffs in the new year, versus 9 percent last year.

The reason for their optimism? Growth. Sixty-four percent of CFOs expect revenues to expand in 2011, up from 61 percent in the survey taken for 2010.

The survey of 801 financial executives was conducted for Bank of America by Granite Research consulting between mid-September and late October. You can watch Bank of America's Laura Whitley discuss the findings on CNBC here:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Despite the challenging economic climate, many CFOs have growing confidence that their companies have weathered the worst of the storm and are poised for expansion," said Laura Whitley, Global Commercial Products executive at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "Although concerns about the economy remain, the increase in CFOs who expect to hire employees could be crucial to improving the nation's unemployment rate."

Last week, the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in November, and the economy only added a measly 39,000 jobs.

So if the survey's result come to fruition, it'll be good news for the more than 15 million jobless Americans looking for a job.

If you're getting sick of Christmas songs being played everywhere, you might want to take advantage of a free Grateful Dead music deal.

Dead.net, the official site of the Grateful Dead, is offering 30 of the Dead's tunes for free until Dec. 8. All you have to do is go over to the site and you'll have your choice of 30 free MP3 downloads, including such hits as Truckin' and Uncle John's Band.

"The music of The Grateful Dead is meant to be shared and enjoyed by everyone," according to the site.

"Dark Star" is a little darker than "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" but it'll definitely be a change for the regular holiday song lineup.

Laura T. Coffey writes: For years now -- decades, even -- a Thanksgiving tradition for die-hard bargain hounds has been to nab a big, fat copy of the local Thanksgiving Day newspaper and pore over all the Black Friday ads. That’s still an important thing to do if you’ve been bitten by the Black Friday bug -- but, of course, the times they are a-changin’.

These days, you’re bound to lose out if you don’t supplement your newspaper-based strategizing with at least some cyber research. Plenty of websites out there are scouring for screaming deals and posting leaked copies of one-time offers. Doing at least some Internet research can put you far ahead of the masses roaming malls and discount retailers in Friday’s wee hours -- so far, in fact, that you may decide to place all your Black Friday orders online and stay home.

At the very least, take a moment on Thursday afternoon or evening to visit the sites of your favorite retailers. Many are sneak-peeking their Black Friday offers and sharing valuable online coupons that can be used in-store on the big day.

In addition to visiting retailers’ sites, it’s also worth checking out some other sites that have been focusing on Black Friday in a big way. Here are five websites that are worth your time after you’ve devoured your turkey dinner:

1. If you have even the slightest inkling that you may want to buy a computer, cell phone, digital camera, appliance, gaming console or other piece of home electronics equipment on Black Friday, Gizmodo’s Ultimate Black Friday 2010 Cheat Sheet is simply amazing. Be sure to check it out before you shop!

2. TheDealmap is a great site to know about year-round because it allows you to search for deals, coupons and discounts by geographic area. It’s stepped its efforts for Black Friday by allowing you to search specifically for Black Friday deals near you, and also by offering a way-cool app that’s free for iPhone and Android phones. Armed with that app on Friday morning, you’ll be able to find deals closest to you thanks to your phone’s GPS.

3. BlackFriday2010.com is just plain cool. It features leaked Black Friday ads and hand-picked deals that are absolutely worth checking out, and it also offers e-mail alerts and a helpful iPhone app.

4. Remember that you can access Twitter in a customized way to find Black Friday deals and promotions from many retailers. If you use TweetDeck, you can create a search that will alert you about tweets you’re likely to care about. For instance, you can search for “Sony Blu-Ray” and “deal” or “Garmin” and “Black Friday.”

5. ConsumerWorld.org is another site that’s worth visiting year-round, and its Black Friday tips page is definitely worth a gander at this time of year. The site points out how to be a Black Friday early-early bird: Toys R Us opens at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, for crying out loud, and Walmart opens at 12:01 a.m. Friday (although electronics won’t go on sale until 5 a.m.). This same Black Friday page also highlights “doorbuster” deals and coupons for 2010.

Again, your Turkey Day surfing may inspire you to order online and stay home -- or it may motivate you more than ever to set your alarm clock for 3 a.m. If you do decide to brave the crowds at the stores on Friday, be sure to bone up on the best Black Friday apps for your phone here, and also read this “10 Tips for Keeping Your Money in Your Wallet” column before you go. I wrote it a few years back, but the overall tips still apply!

Related links:

• Black Friday strategy: Shop, or sleep
• Black Friday has lost its luster ... or has it?
• Feds to retailers: Have a safe Black Friday, or else
• Video: Best Black Friday deals revealed

If you're like most Americans, the financial meltdown of 2008 took a big bite out of your retirement savings. But don't give up on that 401(k) account just yet.

It turns out that people who stuck with their company-sponsored retirement savings plan last year saw average gains of 32 percent, according to a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute.

Some 4 million so-called "consistent participants" tracked by the study closed out last year with an average account balance of $109,723 – up from $83,161 a year earlier. Since most retirement savers still keep the bulk of their money in stocks, the survey found, the 23 percent gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index for 2009 helped make up for the 38 percent drop in stock prices in 2008. So far this year, the S&P 500 index is up 6 percent. (The 32 percent gain for 2009 included worker and employer contributions as well as investment gains.)

About 60 percent of working-age Americans have access to a 401(k) savings plan at work; of those, some 88 percent participate in these plans, which typically match employee savings and allow investments to grow tax-free.

But despite the high participation rates, the current level of savings still falls far short of providing for a decent retirement. Though the average 401(k) account posted an annual growth rate of 14.7 percent between 2003 and 2009, the median balance was just under $60,000 at the end of last year.

That means tens of millions of American workers will be woefully unprepared to pay for even the most basic expenses when they retire, according to Jack VenDerhei, research director at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

"I'm not talking about luxury items," he said."I'm not talking about maintaining your standard of living. I'm talking about just basic expenses plus uninsured medical costs. About 50 percent of households are falling short."

The recession hasn't helped. Tough times have forced more savers to tap into that nest egg. Some 21 percent of those whose plan offered loan options had dipped into savings as of the end of 2009 – up from 18 percent the year before.

She's cute. She's adorable. She's nowhere to be found.

She's Mittens Fluff 'N' Stuff, one of MGA Entertainment's eight Lalaloopsy "Sew magical -- Sew cute" dolls, and she's flying off store shelves, according to the New York Post Monday.

A spot check on Monday of retailers' websites shows how scarce the doll is: Out of stock at Wal-Mart and Target; unavailable for online shipping from Toys R Us; and one left in stock at Amazon.com at almost double the $25 suggested price.

So why is the blue-haired, rosy-cheeked Mittens more popular than her seven sisters such as Crumbs Sugar Cookie or Spot Splatter Splash, each of which comes with a back story about its origins?

CEO Isaac Larian told the New York Post that he thinks the doll may have broader appeal. "It's not yet another blond doll with a white face," he said.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Nothing quite says, “I’m in relaxation mode!” like a pair of pajama bottoms. And if you look around carefully -- or even hastily -- you’ll notice that growing numbers of your fellow countrymen and women are broadcasting their relaxed vibe all day long.

People are wearing pajama bottoms to the grocery store. To the movies. On flights. Even on the red carpet. Our infatuation with elastic waistbands and stretchy, forgiving fabrics is fast becoming a full-blown love affair -- and it’s being attributed, in part, to our recession-induced “cocooning” habits.

We’re staying home more often in the evenings, eating in more, watching movies at home, playing video games at home. More of us are even working from home. With that much at-home time on the agenda, why not be comfortable?

OK, that makes sense. But should we stay comfortable no matter where we roam? Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst for the market research firm NPD Group, describes what’s happening as “the casualization of America.”

“This has reached epidemic proportions,” said Cohen, who studies clothing and apparel trends. “You used to see someone wearing pajamas in the grocery store and you’d feel bad for them because you’d think they’ve been sick for two weeks and are just now getting out of the house. But no, that’s not true.”

Cohen teaches classes at three universities, and he said it’s common for students on all three campuses to show up for class wearing pajama bottoms with short- or long-sleeved T-shirts or hoodie sweatshirts.

Cohen noted that pajama sales are definitely on the rise in the United States, but the numbers can be tricky to track because of the way PJs are being bought and sold.

Forget stuffy, striped, formal-looking sets. These days, pajama bottoms are sold separately for both men and women and are often paired with T-shirts. (Do the T-shirts have to be bought at the same time, or do they even have to match? Heck, no.)

As for the pants themselves, they get described in all sorts of ways by consumers (and retailers): casual pants; dorm pants; lounge pants; loungers; track pants; pajama pants. Some have patterns; some don’t. Most have this in common: They have drawstrings, they’re soft and comfortable enough to sleep in, and they’re selling like crazy.

“Before this, pajamas were really a Christmas item,” said Joseph Goldstein, chief executive officer of the retail inventory evaluation firm R.I.D. Corp. “They sold for six weeks before Christmas as a gift, but any other time of the year it was basically a dead item. Now you have an item that people buy for themselves ... and nightwear is a more thriving business. It’s a 12-month business that used to be a six-week business.”

Well, comfort seekers, if you want to pretend, at least, that you’re not wearing pajamas to the grocery store, you can always give these Pajama Jeans a try.

One in five Americans is burying his or her head in the sand when it comes to managing personal finances, a report by Javelin Strategy & Research has shown.

Even though the recent financial crisis and ensuing recession has made it more important than ever to carefully track where our money is going, the number of Americans who say they don’t check their finances at all -- whether on a bank’s Web site or using personal finance software like Quicken -- has more than doubled, rising from 8 percent in 2009 to 19 percent in 2010, the report shows.

Javelin even found that those of us who do check our financial situations regularly using a bank’s Web site, a spreadsheet program like Excel or by logging on to a financial institution’s Web site are doing so less often.

The number of survey respondents who used a bank’s Web site is down from 59 percent in 2009 to 46 percent in 2010, while the even the number of Americans who said they use a simple pencil and paper to check their finances fell from 50 percent in 2009 to 46 percent in 2009.

“When your 401(k) is turning into a 201(k) we find that people just don’t want to open that [statement] envelope,” said Mark Schwanhausser, a senior analyst at Javelin and the author of the report. “We’re finding the same thing is happening when it comes to personal finances.”

The report’s findings have important policy implications for America’s financial institutions, said Schwanhausser. They need to make sure they are doing a better job of giving their online customers the ability to track their finances more effectively, he said.

“Right now, most banks don’t do that well, but there’s an opportunity here for them to make their online tools more practical, to show you how much you’re spending each day and what you’re spending your money on. It needs to be more of a Mint-like experience,” said Schwanhausser, referring to the popular online financial management Web site.

“The more information you have, the easier it is to make smart decisions about your money,” he added.

(Thanks to WalletPop for pointing out the report.)

With nearly 15 million people out of work, it may seem surprising that anyone would quit their job. But it turns out lots of folks are – more, in fact, than are getting laid off.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 2 million people quit their jobs in September, while nearly 1.8 million were laid off or discharged.

That’s flip-flopped from a year earlier. In September of 2009, about 1.7 million people quit their jobs, while 2.2 million were laid off.

The Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey, which is conducted monthly, shows an even bigger gap between private employees who quit and those who were laid off. That’s because the overall number includes government Census workers who completed temporary assignments.

The fact that more people are leaving jobs voluntarily than a year ago could be a sign that workers are starting to feel like they can move on to greener pastures. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. As we’ve reported already, the recession has left many workers feeling overworked, underpaid and anxious to seek new work.

Still, the job market remains incredibly difficult. According to the Economic Policy Institute, there were 5 jobseekers for every job opening in September.

Thanks to Today’s Workplace for pointing out the trend on workers who quit versus those who were laid off.

For many families, restaurant visits were one of the first things to go when the economy began sliding in 2007.

Now, the kids appear to be coming back.

After several years of weak traffic, this summer saw a slight year-over-year gain in the number of restaurant visits by groups that included children. That’s according to researchers at The NPD Group, which closely tracks the food service industry and other retail segments.

The 1 percent year-over-year increase in restaurant visits with kids during June, July and August isn’t much. Still, NPD says it could be a sign that business is starting to pick up for the restaurant industry.

Although childless diners may not love their pint-sized counterparts, families are an important demographic for the industry. For all of last year, NPD said groups that included kids accounted for $70 billion in sales, and 14 billion meals and snacks. That was out of a total $386 billion in sales and 59 billion restaurant visits.

Readers, are you eating out more with your kids?

Think 1982, legwarmers, permed hair and Blue Light Specials. In the right frame of mind? Good. Now prepare to take this in: Layaway is making a comeback. For real.

Kmart is doing it. Sears is doing it. So are TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Best Buy, Burlington Coat Factory, Men's Wearhouse, Toys "R" Us, a slew of jewelers and dozens of retailers who are accepting layaway payments through this eLayaway site. Stores that began reviving long-dormant layaway programs over the past couple of years are keeping them going, even expanding them.

But why?

It's the economy. The Great Recession may have officially ended a year and a half ago, but consumers are continuing to exercise caution in their spending habits. Growing numbers of people from every imaginable income level are shunning credit-card debt and embracing frugality. And what's a sure-fire way to shop with discipline and make big-ticket purchases without taking on any lingering, crippling debt? Put stuff on layaway.

With layaway, you don't get to take anything home until you're done paying for it. Stores' nominal layaway fees -- often in the $5 range -- appeal to many shoppers more than the potential interest charges and other costs associated with credit-card debt. Basically, you can just plan to pay for your holiday gifts or other purchases over a period of 30 days to 13 months, depending on the retailer. Once you're all paid up, you get your goods.

That said, caution is still needed -- proving that even the most well-intentioned, thrifty and careful consumers can get tripped up and hurt. The Better Business Bureau says it's received hundreds of complaints in the past year from people who lost money when they attempted to put purchases on layaway. To prevent financial heartburn right before the holidays, consider these tips from the BBB and the National Endowment for Financial Education:

--Know what you're getting into. Retailers' layaway policies vary quite a bit. Some require hefty down payments; some don't. Some give you lots of time to pay off your purchase; some don't. (For instance, Sears recently began allowing shoppers to spread their payments out over 12 weeks instead of the usual eight weeks. Good to know!)

--Understand when the deal will disintegrate. The BBB says many consumers complained about diligently making payments on an item for weeks or months, then learning that the item had been sold to another customer. Find out exactly when final payment must be made so you don't get burned.

--Do business with reputable retailers. Other BBB complaints centered on stores that went out of business before customers received their merchandise. To avoid that, enter into layaway agreements with well-known businesses, and remember that making those gradual layaway payments on a credit card could afford you at least some protections. (Unlike cash payments, you can dispute charges if your products never get delivered.)

--Budget, budget, budget. If you're opting to use layaway because money (or credit) is tight, make sure you'll really be able to handle the layaway payments. Consider this scenario from the National Endowment for Financial Education: "If you buy $300 worth of presents for your children, make sure you can commit to paying off $50 each week."

--Find out what fees will apply if you change your mind. Clarify the retailer's layaway cancellation and refund policies. Many consumers who complained to the BBB were shocked when they tried to cancel layaway orders and got hit with restocking fees of 10 percent or more. Others were disappointed to learn that refunds only involved store credit, not cash. So remember: Ask first.

In honor of Veterans Day, a number of restaurants and retailers are offering deals and giveaways to active military personnel, veterans and their families.

Here's a sampling of what's on offer:

Applebee’s is offering free entrees to all active duty and veteran soldiers.

Outback Steakhouse has a free Bloomin' Onion and beverage deal.

T.G.I. Friday's is offering a free entree with purchase to active and retired military. The deal runs through Sunday.

The Golden Corral will offer a free appreciation meal to active military and veterans on Monday.

Pizzeria Uno is offering a free entree or pizza, with purchase of another, to active military or veterans.

Brides Across America is giving away dresses to military brides.

Home Depot and Lowe's are both offering 10 percent discounts to current and former military personnel.

Dollar General also is offering a 10 percent discount to military and their families.

And finally, everyone can take advantage of the National Park's free entrance deal.

Thanks to WalletPop, The Military Wallet and Personal Money Store for some of these leads.

If you do just one thing today, please do it in a simple, easy-to-understand way.

That’s because Thursday is World Usability Day. In the words of the people who created this event, “It’s about making our world work better.”

From the organization's website:

“Technology today is too hard to use. A cell phone should be as easy to access as a doorknob. In order to humanize a world that uses technology as an infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, government, communication, entertainment, work and other areas, we must develop these technologies in a way that serves people first...”

We’ll be honest here and say we think that explanation could use a little more usability, or at least an editor.

Still, the point is clear. Every day, we come across products that are unnecessarily complicated, technology that has too many buttons, instructions that are difficult or impossible to follow.

So, in honor of World Usability Day, we’re giving you the floor.

Readers, what are the products, technologies or institutions that you think could use a little more usability? Leave your answers in the comment section below.