Is Now a Good Time to Find a Quality Job?
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
by Joseph Carroll
At least once every month, Gallup asks Americans to assess whether now is a good time or a bad time to find a quality job. The latest results, taken from an Oct. 13-16 survey, find that 35% of Americans say now is a good time to find a quality job, while the majority of Americans (62%) say it is a bad time.
The current results are down slightly (by three points) from what Gallup had recorded in both its August and September polls (in both months, an average of 38% said it was a good time to find a quality job). However, these results are at the same level that Gallup found in late July. Over the course of the entire year, views of the nation's job market have fluctuated only modestly; the percentage saying now is a good time to find a quality job has ranged from 33% to 40%.
Who's More Likely to Say It's a Good Time to Find a Quality Job?
To better understand which groups of Americans are more likely to say it is now a good time to find a quality job, Gallup combined the results of its last three surveys -- two from September and the most recent one, from October. Here are the results by demographic subgroup.
Younger Americans are slightly more likely than older Americans to say it is a good time to find a quality job. Roughly 4 in 10 Americans under age 50 say it is a good time -- 43% among 18- to 29-year-olds and 39% among those aged 30 to 49. This sentiment is 34% among those aged 50 to 64 and 31% among those aged 65 and older.
These differences are even more pronounced when looking at age and gender: older women rate the job market more negatively than do younger women or men of any age. Forty-six percent of men aged 18 to 49 say now is a good time to find a quality job. This compares with 37% of men aged 50 and older, 35% of women aged 18 to 49, and just 29% of women aged 50 and older.
Americans living in households earning $75,000 or more per year are slightly more negative than positive in their views of the current job market, with 44% saying it is now a good time to find a quality job and 52% saying it is a bad time. Those living in households earning less money per year are even more negative in their views. Thirty-nine percent of those earning between $30,000 and $74,999, and only 27% of those earning less than $30,000 per year, say it is a good time to find a job.
Americans residing in the South and West are slightly more positive in answering this question than are those living in the East or Midwest. Among those living in the South and West, about 4 in 10 say it is now a good time to find a quality job. Among those in the East, 37% express this sentiment, and among those in the Midwest, 30% do.
Responses are colored by one's politics: 6 in 10 Republicans (60%) say it is a good time to find a job, while 33% of independents and just 21% of Democrats share this point of view.
