Americans grow worried about losing jobs: labor survey

A hiring sign is posted on the window of a restaurant in the Old Town neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, the United States, on Aug. 18, 2022. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The New York Fed's July survey of labor market expectations showed that the expected likelihood of becoming unemployed rose to 4.4 percent on average, up from 3.9 percent a year earlier and the highest in data going back to 2014.

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Americans are increasingly worried about losing their jobs, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released on Monday.

The New York Fed's July survey of labor market expectations showed that the expected likelihood of becoming unemployed rose to 4.4 percent on average, up from 3.9 percent a year earlier and the highest in data going back to 2014.

"In fact, the new data showed signs of the labor market cracking across a range of metrics. People reported leaving or losing jobs, marked down their salary expectations and increasingly thought that they would need to work past traditional retirement ages," said The New York Times in it report of the survey.

The share of workers who reported searching for a job in the past four weeks jumped to 28.4 percent, the highest level since the data started, up from 19.4 percent in July 2023, it said.

"The survey, which quizzed a nationally representative sample of people on their recent economic experience, suggested that meaningful fissures may be forming in the labor market," said the newspaper.

While it is just one report, it came at a tense moment, as economists and central bankers watch nervously for signs that the job market is taking a turn for the worse, it noted.