by Katie Fretland
Layoffs reported by employees across the United States have reached the highest level in five years, and 75 percent of Americans say now is a bad time to find a quality job, according to a new Gallup study.
Thirty percent of Americans polled said their employers have made job cuts in the last six months. This percentage represents an 8 percent increase since 2007 and marks the highest level since August 2003, when 34 percent of Americans reported job cuts at their places of employment, Gallup reports.
However, employees' personal concerns about their jobs (that they will have to take a pay cut, be fired or change locations) have not changed significantly from previous years. Americans with higher incomes are less worried about potential reductions in benefits or working hours than lower and middle income workers.
The greatest percenatge of employees reporting layoffs came from the West at 40 percent, compared to other regions of the United States.
Gallup chief economist Dennis Jacobe offers the following analysis:
"Last week, the government's four-week moving average of first-time claims for unemployment increased to its highest level since April 2002," Jacobe writes. "This suggests that job market conditions are likely to continue to deteriorate in the months ahead. Employers are unlikely to build their employee workforces given the slowing economy, the end of the tax rebates, and all of the factors potentially affecting consumer spending in a negative way -- including energy prices, housing, and the consumer credit crunch. As a result, employed Americans' worries about their personal job situations may tend to increase as the remainder of this year unfolds."
"On the other hand, the sharp drop in oil and gas prices over the past 30 days has had a positive impact on consumer confidence," he continues. "As a result, the real question for the economy looking ahead -- including the all-important Christmas shopping season -- seems to be whether declining gas prices, even though they remain far above year-ago levels, will be enough not only to offset further deterioration in the jobs market but also to increase consumers' real disposable incomes enough to significantly stimulate consumer spending. At this point, it appears the downward momentum in the jobs market may be hard to reverse in time for the Christmas holidays."
Read the full report on U.S. employee-reported layoffs at Gallup.com. The report was based on interviews with 1,009 national adults from Aug. 7 to 10 with a margin of error of approximately plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Posted by Katie Fretland on August 19, 2008 12:30 PM