Americans Reveal Surprising Feelings About The Job Market In New Poll
Americans appear to be extremely optimistic about the ability to find quality employment like never before, according to the Gallup polling organization. In reaching this conclusion, Gallup conducted telephone interviews (70 percent of whom were cell phone respondents) with a random sample of about 1,000 U.S. adults.
In the just-released data which has a stated four percent margin of error, Gallup claims that America’s outlook on jobs has significantly changed with former real estate mogul Donald Trump in the White House.
“Sixty-seven percent of Americans believe that now is a good time to find a quality job in the U.S., the highest percentage in 17 years of Gallup polling. Optimism about the availability of good jobs has grown by 25 percentage points since Donald Trump was elected president…Prior to 2017, the percentage saying ‘good time’ never reached 50%, but since Trump took office in January that year, the percentage has stayed at or above 50% and has been higher than 60% in eight of the past nine months.”
Gallup has been surveying Americans about their perceptions, good or bad, of the job market since August 2001. Based on the poll results, even 53 percent of Democrats now say that it’s a good time to obtain a quality job. The public opinion firm suggests that this cohort may believe that Barack Obama rather than Trump is responsible for a strong job market, although the former left office about a year and a half ago.
Among Republicans, job market optimism is 82 percent.
Sixty-seven percent of Americans believe that now is a good time to find a quality job in the U.S., the highest percentage in 17 years of Gallup polling… https://t.co/HbQSNLXFkt #GallupDaily pic.twitter.com/UGwM76nAFz
— GallupNews (@GallupNews) May 21, 2018
In January, the National Federation of Independent Businesses claimed that its small business optimism index hit an all-time, 45-year high in 2017, in part because of the tax cut that Trump signed into law shortly before Christmas.
Whether you like or dislike Trump, or find yourself somewhere in between, most economic indicators are up in the U.S. Among other factors, the stock market has hit record highs, while unemployment is heading downward at least according to government statistics, employers such as Apple are creating new jobs and facilities, and businesses apparently are or will be bringing manufacturing and cash back to the U.S. as a result of tax reform.
The business community has praised the Trump administration for eliminating regulations that it insists were holding employers back from expanding operations and headcount. The Trump team is also in the midst of renegotiating international trade deals in an attempt to level the playing field and address the trade imbalance.
“The extensive job growth has contributed to the national unemployment rate—3.9 percent as of May—hitting lows unseen since 2000,” the Washington Free Beacon observed.
Gallup also pegs Donald Trump’s current job approval rating at 42 percent, which generally shows an improving trend in 2018. Trump’s highest rating was 45 percent around the time he was sworn in and dropped into the 30s for most of last year.
