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The Labor Department’s jobs report released this week set off alarm bells that sent markets reeling. The report indicated fewer jobs were added in the U.S. than expected and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, the highest point since October 2021.
How are Americans feeling about employment right now? Here are three key insights to keep an eye on:
1. The labor market is cooling but Americans don’t appear fazed, yet.
Confidence in finding a new job actually increased over the last two weeks in July, recorded by the Penta-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index. Ongoing tracking data also find that just 44% of Americans who are in the workforce felt at least ‘somewhat’ concerned about their employment situation in July, the lowest point in the last 12 months. (The data excludes those who are retired or unemployed by choice.)
Join the Conversation: How concerned are you about job security right now?
2. But overall, workers are feeling more concerned this year than in the last three years.
Employment concerns increased five points from 2023 to 2024 alone, as of August 7. People who work in computer, technical, or medical professions are the most likely to feel concerned about employment, followed quickly by those who work in operations and sales. Service workers and those who work in professional/managerial roles under-index in employment concern.
Weigh In: Have you experienced job insecurity at any point this year?
3. Recession concerns aren’t growing, but more Americans are holding onto jobs.
The jobs report sparked new discussion about a recession, yet Americans aren’t any more worried about a recession as of now. Tracking data show that 82% of U.S. adults are at least ‘somewhat’ concerned about a U.S. recession in the near future, but that is actually down from 85% in May and is the same as the July 2023 percentage.1
Workers, however, are increasingly hesitant to search for a new job. Among those employed, 64% say they are not interested in leaving their current job, up from 62% last month. The percentage of U.S. adults job-searching has fallen to 36% from 38% in June and 39% in May.
So while American workers have been feeling less concerned about their employment situation over the last month, that could change over the next few months. Other signs suggest that workers are beginning to feel the slowdown of the labor market.
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- 2,472 responses from July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024 ↩︎
