Worker confidence index hits new low in July, Spherion survey finds

By Palm Beach Business.com

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Spherion Employee Confidence Index dropped 0.9 point to 45.2 in July, decreasing to a new low since tracking began in June 2004.

The survey, conducted for Spherion by Harris Interactive,
measures U.S. workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism about the economy. The Labor Department Friday reported that unemployment jumped to 5.7 percent in July, up from 5.5 percent in June. Payrolls shrank by 51,000 jobs.

The July jobless report for Florida is due out on August 15.

The good news in Spherion’s July report: worker confidence in the
future of their employers increased three percentage points, and 49 percent of workers remain confident in their ability to find a new job.

At the same time, optimism in the economy waned in July, as the
percentage of workers confident in the strength of the economy and the job market both declined by two percentage points.

However, 76 percent of workers believe it is unlikely they will lose their present job, showing no change from June and 33 percent of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months.

"Given the current state of the economy, we are encouraged by the high number of workers feeling secure in their jobs and the rise in the percentage of workers who are confident in the future of their employers," Spherion CEO Roy Krause said.

“This level of confidence is not unlike what we have seen in previous downturns and is indicative of how workers feel about their own abilities and their personal situations despite the instability of the economic environment around them," Krause said.

Details of the index:

— Ten percent of U.S. adult workers believe there are more jobs available, a decrease of two percentage points from June.

— Five percent of workers believe the economy is getting stronger, decreasing two percentage points from the previous month.

— Sixty-six percent of U.S. adult workers feel confident in the future of their current employer, a three-percentage-point increase from June.

— The percentage of U.S. adult workers confident in their ability to find a new job remains unchanged from the previous month at 49 percent.

— Seventy-six percent of U.S. workers say it is unlikely they will lose their jobs in the next 12 months, showing no change from June.

— One-third of workers are likely to look for a new job in the next twelve months, a decrease of one percentage point from the prior month.