U.S. worker confidence in the employment market declined in May, as the Hudson Employment Index fell 5.4 points to 102.3. Lowered optimism regarding personal finances and less anticipated hiring contributed to the drop. However, positive news regarding job security kept the latest Index above most of the readings from the second half of 2005 as well as the 99.9 recorded last May.

The work force was less satisfied with their finances in May, as the percent rating their situation as excellent or good fell from 45 percent in April to 43 percent. There was also a three-point decrease to 40 percent in the number of workers who indicated their personal finances were improving, taking this to the lowest level since November 2005.

Additionally, the number of workers expecting their employers to hire returned to 32 percent in May after jumping to 34 percent in April. Managers also cooled their hiring plans, as the number anticipating a boost in headcount edged down a point to 33 percent.

Despite the overall drop in confidence, May’s polling revealed areas of optimism. In particular, just 20 percent of the work force was concerned about job loss in May, down from 21 percent in April and 22 percent one year ago. Additionally, the number of workers expecting layoffs held steady at 17 percent, while the number content with their jobs was also stable at 74 percent.

“The drop in confidence is not unexpected, especially when you consider the elevated gas prices, rising interest rates and slipping stocks, which are all compounded by upcoming seasonal factors,” said Steve Wolfe, executive vice president, Hudson, North America. “However, the news isn’t all bad. Workers are still generally satisfied at work and confident that their jobs are safe despite the constant barrage of negative headlines.”

The Hudson Employment Index
The Hudson Employment Index (Hudson-Index.com) is based on monthly telephone surveys with approximately 9,000 U.S. workers. The Index tracks aggregate employment trends regarding career opportunities, hiring intentions, job satisfaction and retention. The data is compiled each month by Rasmussen Reports, LLC, an independent research firm (rasmussenreports.com).

Survey results are segmented by 11 cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa, and Washington, D.C. The Index surveys five occupational sectors: accounting and finance, health care, information technology, manufacturing and legal. The Hudson Employment Index also measures employee confidence by age, gender, race and compensation.

Data reported in this release is based on a national telephone survey of 9,312working Americans during the month of April. The margin of sampling error for a survey based on this number of interviews is approximately +/-1 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence. The data is not seasonally adjusted. It will be reviewed at year-end to determine if seasonal adjustments are appropriate. The Hudson Employment Index is a service mark owned by Hudson Highland Group, Inc.