Rasmussen Employment Index Reaches Recent High

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The Rasmussen Employment Index rose just over a point in May to reach its highest level since September 2008. At 74.8, the monthly measure of worker confidence is up eight points from a year ago but still down 13 points from September 2008.

Now, 19% of workers report their firms are hiring, up one point from last month and the highest level reached since September 2008. However, 26% of working Americans say their firms are laying workers off, down slightly from last month.  May was the 20th  straight month during which the number of workers who report their firms are laying off was higher than the number who said their firms were hiring.

Among private sector managers, just 21% say their firms are hiring while 26% say their firms are laying people off, marking an improvement from last month.

Typically, an increase in the Employment Index suggests that the government's official report on job creation will be stronger than the month before.

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of workers are worried about losing their jobs, down only slightly from last month. A year ago, roughly the same number (28%) were worried about losing their jobs.

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The survey of 8,488 working Americans was conducted in May 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of workers say their personal finances are getting better, up just one point from last month but the highest level measured since September 2008. The plurality of workers (41%) says their personal finances are getting worse.

Overall 36% rate their personal finances as good or excellent, while 19% say their finances are in poor shape.

Separate polling finds that 42% of employed adults say, a year from today, they will be earning more money than they earn now.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of working Americans also say it will be their choice "â?? not their employer's "â?? when they leave their current job.

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Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

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Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

The Rasmussen Employment Index is based on monthly telephone surveys with approximately 9,000 U.S. workers. The margin of sampling error for a survey based on this number of interviews is approximately +/-1 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Rasmussen Employment Index History

May 2010

74.8

Apr 2010

73.4

Mar 2010

69.4

Feb 2010

70.1

Jan 2010

66.3

Dec 2009

63.9

Nov 2009

61.7

Oct 2009

66.1

Sep 2009

65.6

Aug 2009

63.9

July 2009

57.8

June 2009

68.4

May 2009

66.7

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