WHAT THE DATA SAY: 44% of job seekers see fewer openings today than a year ago

By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from Stagwell. Among the highlights of our weekly consumer sentiment tracking:

INFLATION OVERSHADOWS ECONOMIC PROGRESS

While more Americans say their financial situation is improving, inflation concerns remain high, based on our August HarvardCAPS / Harris Poll.

• 40% say the country is on the right track – same as July.
• 38% say the U.S. economy is on the right track – same as July.
• 35% say their personal financial situation is improving (up 3 points from July).
• Inflation (34%) and the economy (31%) are the top two issues, while immigration dropped to 26% (down 3 points from July).
• 48% say inflation is the most important issue to them personally – up from 45% in July and 39% in June.
• 14 of 15 Trump policies receive support from the majority of Americans – with the most popular policies being lowering prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients and low-income patients (86%), deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes (75%) and eliminating fraud and waste in government expenditures (73%).
• Not popular: Making cost cuts to Medicaid programs by adding work requirements for those up to 64-years-old (56% of the country opposes this policy).
• 59% say President Trump will not solve the Ukraine war, and 64% say he will not solve the Israel-Hamas war.

HIRING FRUSTRATION GROWS

High-salary job seekers and employers are struggling with a lengthy and unsuccessful hiring processes, according to our Harris Poll survey with Indeed.

• 64% of high-salary job seekers say it’s difficult to get hired.
• 44% of employers say it’s hard to hire high-salary employees.
• 42% of employers and 57% of job seekers agree the hiring process is taking longer.
• 56% of employers claim there are too many candidates (51% of job seekers say the same).
• 39% of employers are seeing more candidates per job opening than last year.
• 44% of job seekers point to fewer job openings as a result of the economy (74%) and layoffs and restructuring (45%).
• 55% of employers think candidates would be willing to accept a lower salary. Yet only 37% of job seekers agree.

MORE TREES, PLEASE

While a large majority of Americans appreciate the impact of tress and green spaces on their mental health, less than a fifth are planting trees, according to our Harris Poll report with the Arbor Day Foundation.

• 87% of Americans say trees and green spaces have a noticeable, positive impact on their mental wellbeing.
• 95% see the value of trees in their communities for their ability to clean air, provide shade and provide privacy.
• 84% say spending time in nature brings them hope and optimism about the future.
• Yet only 19% have planted a tree in the last year.

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