NY Fed Survey Shows Sharp Increase In Number Of Jobseekers, Declining Job Satisfaction

(RTTNews) - The number of jobseekers increased sharply compared to a year ago in July, while those employed expressed less satisfaction regarding wages and nonwage benefits, results of a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed Monday.

The proportion of individuals who reported searching for a job in the past four weeks shot up to 28.4 percent, which was the highest level since March 2014, from 19.4 percent in July last year, the NY Fed SCE Labor Market Survey showed.

The increase was most pronounced among respondents older than age 45, those without a college degree, and those with an annual household income less than $60,000, the report said.

That said, the expectations of receiving at least one job offer in the next four months climbed to 22.2 percent from 18.7 percent. Further, the average expected likelihood of receiving multiple offers in the next four months rose to 25.4 percent from 20.6 percent in the same month last year.

Satisfaction with wage compensation at the current job shrunk to 56.7 percent from 59.9 percent, while that for nonwage benefits decreased to 56.3 percent from 64.9 percent. The survey also showed that employees' satisfaction with promotion opportunities fell to 44.2 percent from 53.5 percent. The biggest declines in satisfaction were among women, respondents without a college degree and those with household incomes below $60,000.

Salary expectations in the next four months declined with the average expected annual salary falling to $65,272 from $67,416 a year ago.