Companies are growing more upbeat about the U.S. economy this year and plan to take on more workers as demand improves, a survey showed.

Some 78 percent of businesses, the most in a year, project the world's largest economy will expand more than 2 percent in 2012, according to the National Association for Business Economics' April survey released today in Washington. The share is up from 65 percent in the group's January report.

About four in 10 firms, the most since July 2011, said they expect employment to pick up in the next six months, showing businesses are looking beyond higher oil prices and Europe's debt crisis. At the same time, 66 percent said they expect no change in prices in the next three months, indicating Federal Reserve policy makers will have room to keep interest rates low to nurture the almost three-year-old expansion.