American Public Opinion About Unemployment and Jobs
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
by Joseph Carroll
Every month, Gallup asks Americans whether now is a good time or a bad time to find a quality job. A combined aggregate of more than 5,000 interviews from the beginning of April through early June shows that, overall, 37% of Americans say now is a good time to find a quality job, and a majority of Americans, 59%, say it is a bad time.
But just who is most likely to feel that now is a good time to find a job? Here is an in-depth review of the April-June aggregate.
Age
Younger Americans are somewhat more positive than older Americans are about the job market these days. Roughly 4 in 10 Americans younger than age 50 -- 41% of 18- to 29-year-olds and 40% of 30- to 49-year-olds -- say it is a good time to find a quality job, compared with 35% of those aged 50 to 64 and 30% of those aged 65 and older.
Some media reports suggest that recent college graduates are finding jobs more easily than are those without degrees. However, these data do not support that finding. In fact, when looking at a breakdown on age, those in their 30s are the most positive about the job market, while those who are older are least positive.
Percentages of those who think now is a good time to find a job:
- 38% of people in their 20s
- 43% of those in their 30s
- 37% of those in their 40s
- 35% of those in their 50s
- 32% of those in their 60s
- 31% of those aged 70 and older
Gender
Men are more positive about the job market than are women. The data show that 42% of men say now is a good time, while 54% say bad time. Among women, a third (32%) say it is a good time, and 64% say bad time.
Education
Americans with higher levels of education are more inclined than those with less education to say it is a good time to find a quality job. A third of adults with a high school education or less (33%) say it is a good time to find a quality job, while 4 in 10 Americans with higher levels of education (39% of those with some college education, 41% of college graduates, and 40% of those with postgraduate education) offer this response.
Region
Americans living in the South and West are more likely than those living elsewhere in the country to say it is a good time to find a quality job. Forty-three percent of Americans living in the South say it is a good time, compared with 39% of those in the West, 33% of those in the Midwest, and 32% of those in the East.
Income
Less than half (47%) of Americans living in households with incomes of $75,000 or more per year say it is a good time to find a quality job. This sentiment is considerably higher among these higher-income households than it is among those earning less per year. By comparison, 40% of those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 per year, 34% of those earning between $20,000 and $50,000 annually, and just 26% of those earning less than $20,000 per year say it is a good time to find a quality job.