The Rasmussen Employment Index, a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the employment market, fell for the fifth straight month in February.

At 60.9, the Employment Index is down just two-tenths of a point from January. But it’s the first time in the five-year history of the Index that confidence in the labor market has fallen for five straight months. Overall, the Employment Index is down 28 points since September.

Nearly a third of all workers (30%) are worried about losing their jobs.

Typically, a decline in the Employment Index suggests that the government report on job creation will be weaker than the month before (see history). Consumer confidence is also hovering around record lows.

Driving the decline in confidence is the growing number of workers whose employers are laying people off. Thirty percent (30%) of all workers now report layoffs at their places of employment. That’s up from 27% a month ago.

Just 14% of workers report that their companies are hiring. These figures reflect a dramatic change over the past year. In February 2008, 23% of workers said their firms were hiring and just 16% reported lay-offs.

The current totals represent the fifth straight month that the number reporting layoffs is higher than the number whose firms are hiring. Prior to the past five months, it has happened only once before.

Among manufacturing workers, just 10% say their firms are hiring while 44% say they are laying people off.
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As the nation’s economic woes mount, one-fourth of all American workers (26%) are worried about losing their job in the near future.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) of U.S. workers now say their personal finances are good or excellent. That’s unchanged from last month but down four since September.

Twenty percent (20%) of workers say their personal finances are getting better while 49% say their finances are getting worse.

The Rasmussen Employment Index is based upon telephone interviews with approximately 9,000 employees each month. Results are released on the Tuesday preceding the government report on employment.

Other recent data, including the Discover Small Business Watch, the Discover Consumer Spending Monitor and the Rasmussen Consumer Index, have shown similar trends.

See the Rasmussen Employment Index summary from January 2009.