The University of Southern California released the results of its survey on the effects of the current economic environment on public relations. The highlights:

• Budgets: 51 percent said their 2009 PR budgets are smaller than in 2008, while 18 percent said they are larger than in 2008
• Staff size: 22 percent said they downsized their staffs last year, while 63 percent said they made no changes to staff size last year
• Salaries: 56 percent anticipate salary freezes in 2009, while 21 percent expect salary cuts
• Agencies: 69 percent of those retaining PR agencies have – or plan to – cut agency budgets by an average of 25 percent