Poll: Americans now most optimistic on jobs since 2008
Former US President Bill Clinton — the author most recently of the book Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy — speaks March 1 to a gathering of the United Auto Workers in Washington.
New York – Americans are now more optimistic about finding work than at any time since before President Barack Obama took office, according to a new poll released today by Gallup.
The polling agency said public assessment of the job market had risen “markedly” this month with 19 percent believing that now is a good time to find a “quality job,” up from 13 percent in February, the highest level of optimism since September 2008.
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Optimism still remains lower than the pre-recession high of 26 percent which was recorded in February 2008, according to Gallup, which said that currently 78 percent of Americans feel that now is a “bad time” to find a good job (also the lowest level since February 2008).
Though received cautiously by analysts, the US economy has since the end of 2011 posted a steady stream of positive results in major indices. New jobless claims dropped to a four-year-low at the end of February, a month when the economy added a quarter of a million jobs on top of a quarter of a million added in January.
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The Associated Press reported yesterday that fewer unemployment claims were lodged last week, matching a four-year low of 351,000 while inflation — with the notable exception of gasoline prices — remains “mild.”
Unemployment remains high, at 8.3 percent.