Americans think they'll be out of work and are looking for jobs at highest rate in 10 years: NY Fed survey

Alexandra Canal·Senior Reporter
Tue, Aug 20, 2024 at 2:17 PM EDT • 3 min read

More Americans are looking for jobs and unemployment worries are at their highest level in a decade, according to a new survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

According to the NY Fed, the average expected likelihood of becoming unemployed in the next four months reached 4.4% in July, the highest in the survey's 10-year history. This compared to 3.9% a year ago.

The expected likelihood of moving to a new employer also increased, rising to 11.6% last month from the 10.6% seen in July 2023.

More respondents are also actively on the job hunt, with 28.4% saying they've been searching for a new job over the past four weeks — the highest level since March 2014 and an increase from 19.4% in July 2023.

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