Americans Gaining Optimism for Finding New Jobs

 Thirty-six percent of respondents to a Gallup poll said now is a “good time” to find a “quality job” in December, up six percentage points from last month. While 61 percent of people believe it’s a bad time to find a job, those numbers have also declined, from 66 percent in November and 73 percent in December 2013.

According to Gallup, Americans’ perceptions that now is a good time to find a quality job have returned to pre-recession levels, a sign that Americans are seeing improving job conditions. This follows a November increase in Gallup’s Job Creation Index. During November, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ unemployment rate stayed just under 6 percent, at 5.8 percent. While these indicators are still not as good as what was seen prior to the start of the recession, they are much improved from 2009 to 2011, when the economy was still slowly recovering.

The Gallup survey follows a strong jobs report earlier this month. The jobless rate held at a six-year low of 5.8 percent and earnings rose by the most since June of last year. The rise in wages, as well as the largest hiring surge in nearly three years, suggests the U.S. is gaining confidence in the strength of its economy.