Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!
Attitude Check

Is it a good time to look for a quality job?

Marketplace Contributor Sep 27, 2012
HTML EMBED:
COPY
Attitude Check

Is it a good time to look for a quality job?

Marketplace Contributor Sep 27, 2012
HTML EMBED:
COPY

As the job market shows hints of improving, some folks who quit looking for work will consider dipping their toes back in. Is it a good time to look for a job? Poll results from Gallup reveal that 20 percent of people overall think it’s a good time to find a quality job. But how does it compare to where we have been?

“Not good,” says Frank Newport, editor-in-chief at Gallup. “We started in 2001 and it reached its peak in 2007, when about half, 48 percent of Americans said that yes, it was a good time to find a quality job.”

Newport says it’s important to word the question — with the word quality — “because a lot of people say, ‘I could got a fast-food emporium and get a job, but the real key is I think quality job and we like that wording.”

Galllup research finds that 29 percent of young people believe it’s a good time to find a quality job. They are most positive than their elders. Newport says that positivity is in part due to politics.

“Democrats are more positive about it being a good time to find a quality job than Republicans. Young people tend to be Democratic,” he says. “It may politics that’s affecting their view of the job market rather than the reality.”

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.