Job Market Pessimism Among Americans Hovers At Record Highs: 'Fears of Unemployment Have Never Been This Elevated'

Job market pessimism among Americans has reached alarming levels, with a dramatic surge in fears about unemployment and job security in recent weeks.

Unemployment Fears Have ‘Never Been This Elevated’

On Tuesday, in a post on X, The Kobeissi Letter said, “71% of US consumers expect an increase in unemployment over the next 12 months,” noting that this was the highest since the 1980s, based on a survey conducted by the University of Michigan.

The post also highlighted that the figure has “doubled in less than a year and is now above the 2008 peak,” a period which corresponded with the Great Financial Crisis.

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Additionally, it pointed to a significant rise in personal job insecurity among consumers. “The perceived probability of job loss among consumers hit 23%, the 2nd-highest in at least 15 years,” it said, as macroeconomic uncertainties, alongside AI-driven job losses, continue to weigh on sentiments.

According to the post, such widespread pessimism in the labor market is rare outside of major downturns, while adding that “fears about unemployment have almost never been this elevated.”

Americans Worried About AI Job Losses

Over 70% of U.S. adults are worried that the advances in AI will put “too many people out of work permanently,” according to a recent Reuters survey.

This comes amid rising job cuts across several leading U.S.-based companies in recent weeks, with thousands of workers being laid off, further hurting consumer sentiments.

With the federal shutdown dragging into its second month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics remains offline, leaving workers, economists, and policymakers flying blind on the state of the U.S. labor market.

However, data from several unofficial data sources continue to point towards a cooling labor market, with payroll processor ADP reporting that private sector employers added just 42,000 jobs in October, followed by Revelio Labs, which analyzes online professional profiles, stating that nonfarm payroll employment fell by 9,100 last month.

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