A majority of Americans say it’s still possible for anyone who wants to work to find a job and work themselves out of poverty.

But 54% also believe it’s no longer possible for just about anyone in America to work hard and get rich, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. One-third of Americans (33%) still say it’s possible, and 13% aren’t sure.

Fifty-two percent (52%) say anyone who wants to work can find a job, although 37% disagree and 11% are unsure.

A bare majority (51%) thinks it’s possible for anyone in this country to work their way out of poverty. Thirty-two percent (32%) say it’s not possible, and 17% are undecided.

Only 14% say their companies are now hiring while 27% report lay-offs are coming at their workplace. Both figures are the bleakest ever recorded in the five-year history of the Rasmussen Employment Index, a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the employment market.

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Republicans are far more positive about economic opportunity in America than Democrats and those not affiliated with either major party.

Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans, for example, believe it is possible for anyone who really wants to work to find a job, while Democrats and unaffiliateds are almost evenly divided on the question.

Republicans, in turn, are closely divided on whether anyone in America can work hard and get rich, but Democrats and those not affiliated with a party believe by more than 25 percentage points that achieving wealth through hard work is not possible.

Democrats by only three points and unaffiliateds by six think it is possible for just about anyone in the United States to work their way out of poverty. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republicans believe that to be true versus 19% who don’t.

Men are more confident about getting ahead than women. While over half of men (57%) say it is possible for anyone to find a job, less than half of women (47%) feel the same way. Similarly, over half of men (57%) say it is possible for anyone to break out of poverty, but just 46% of women agree.

Although a majority of both groups do not believe it is possible to get rich in America by working hard, 38% of men say it is possible, compared to 29% of women.

Forty-one percent (41%) of investors still believe one can work hard and get rich, although 45% disagree. Among non-investors, 63% say it’s possible, 26% say it’s not.

The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes fell to record lows in December but began the year with a burst of confidence. Today, both indexes rose to their highest levels since mid-November.

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