More Americans pessimistic about job market: Gallup

A vast majority of Americans expressed decreased confidence in the U.S. job market at the end of last year, according to the results of a poll released this week.  

The Gallup survey found that 72 percent of respondents believed it was a “bad time” to find a new role at the end of 2025, compared to only 28 percent who said it was a “good time” to search for a new job. 

Workers with higher education degrees indicated more pessimism about the job market during this time period. Only 19 percent of college-educated or above employees said it was a “good time” to job search versus 35 percent of people who have less than a college degree. 

The U.S. grew only by 181,000 new jobs last year, averaging around 15,000 employment gains per month. In comparison, the U.S. gained around 186,000 new jobs per month in 2024, totaling a 2.2 million employment increase that year. 

Job pessimism has continued into 2026. A dismal jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) earlier this month found that the U.S. lost 92,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent in February. 

Additionally, over a quarter of new hires are taking pay cuts when starting new roles, according to a recent ZipRecruiter survey. Sixty-five percent of the new hires said they took a pay cut because they were unemployed and needed a job.

The Gallup survey also found a decrease in U.S. workers’ life enjoyment. Forty-nine percent of workers said they were struggling, compared to 46 percent who said they were thriving at the end of last year. Data from the third quarter of 2025 found a more even split on this question, with 48 percent giving a negative response compared to 47 percent indicating the positive option. 

The Gallup poll was conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 13 last year and included 22,368 responses with a margin of error of approximately 1 percentage point.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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