Americans are worried about inflation, pessimistic about the economy at large, and shaken by how their leaders are handling it. But they still feel pretty good about the job market.
A New York Times survey last month found that 52% of Americans say it’s a good time to find a job, compared to just 11% who say it’s a bad time. Online research company Momentive(The rest said the situation was “mixed” or did not answer the question.) .
Most Americans are also unconcerned that their jobs are in jeopardy. are concerned, up slightly from 37% just before the pandemic.
“People still think the job market is a little brighter,” said Momentive research scientist Brianna Richardson.
The rosy outlook for employment contrasts sharply with the American view of the economy. More than 90% of those surveyed said they were concerned about inflation, and a majority said they were financially worse off than they were a year ago. Only 17% said the overall business situation in their country was moderately good or very good.
Richardson said the results suggest that the good news about jobs is being overshadowed by the bad news about inflation in Americans’ perceptions of the economy. That seems to apply to people’s own finances as well. People see it as an employee-friendly job market, but most workers say they aren’t getting enough raises to keep up with rising prices.
Americans have a bleak view of how the White House and Federal Reserve will handle inflation, but a survey suggests West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin III will help Democrats keep inflation in check. It was implemented before the bill was signed into law. 44% of him said he thinks Democrats can handle the economy better, compared to 47% of him who supported Republicans on the issue. These numbers have changed little since the question was last asked in May 2019.
About the survey: The data in this article comes from an online survey of 5,881 adults conducted between July 18th and July 25th by polling firm Momentive. Day. Responses were weighted to match the demographic profile of the US population. In this study, the modeled estimation error (similar to standard telephone survey error bars) is plus or minus 2 percentage points, so differences below that are not statistically significant.
