Americans Rue Job Availability

It may be hard to find a job when jobs are so hard to find. A new Gallup poll reports that “Americans’ assessments of the job market have soured in June after showing modest improvement in the spring, with 86% saying now is a “bad time'”to find a quality job. This ties February’s reading for the worst of 2011. Eleven percent say now is a”good time” to find a quality job.

A quality job may be any job at all during a recession.

The data is probably a sign that job creation has slowed or even halted in the US. Unemployment improved from late 2010 until March. May unemployment figures were dismal and the economy added only 58,000 jobs.  If the Gallup data is any indication, June may show ever worse numbers than May did.  Many are worried that unemployment could rise again as businesses struggle with low consumer spending and the high prices of oil and commodities. These prices often pressure firms to find ways to save costs, which often means layoffs.

The economy has reached a vicious cycle again. Some observers believe that recessions began as people fear the future, hold back on buying activity,  which in turn hurts business and causes layoffs. It is a neat and simple analysis, which may be true.

The American recovery has reached a new stage now. It has begun to falter after what appeared to brief period of optimism.

Methodology: Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted June 9-12, 2011, with a random sample of 1,020 adults, aged 18 and older, living in the continental U.S. selected using random digit dial sampling.

Douglas A. McIntyre