81% Know Someone Out of Work and Looking for a Job
Monday, March 28, 2011

Eight-out-of-10 Americans continue to know someone who is unemployed and currently looking for work. Most adults also remain pessimistic about the future job market.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 81% of Adults know someone who is out of work and looking for a job. Although that finding is up five points from October, it's generally consistent with findings going back to August 2009. Only 13% don’t know someone who is jobless and currently searching for one.

The national unemployment rate is 9.5%, and only 25% of Americans think unemployment will be lower a year from today. That’s down 11 points from late January when 36% felt that way. Twenty-six percent (26%) say unemployment will be higher in a year's time, while a plurality (41%) says it’ll stay about the same.

Only 16% of adults believe the job market is better than it was a year ago, down eight points from the previous survey. Thirty-six percent (36%) think the market is worse than last year, while 44% say it’s about the same.

The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on March 25-26, 2011 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.

Just under half (48%) of Americans say they know someone who, out of frustration, has given up looking for a job. But almost as many (43%) don’t know someone in that situation.

By a 71% - 29% margin, younger adults know someone who has given up looking for a job out of frustration. Americans in all other age groups are evenly divided on this question.

Similarly, adults ages 18-29 are more likely than their elders to know someone out of work and looking for a job. Still, overwhelming majorities across all demographic categories know someone who fits that description.

While 38% of adults making between $75,000 and $100,000 annually believe the job market is better than it was a year ago, just 18% of Americans making under $40,000 agree.

The number of all Americans who think the U.S. economy will spiral into a depression similar to the 1930s is at its highest level in two years.

While Americans continue to have mixed feelings on the possibility of finding work, they still believe it’s possible for anyone to dig themselves out of an economic hole. But just 21% believe today's children will be better off than their parents.

The number of employees looking for a new employer has reached its highest level in nearly two years.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... _for_a_job