The Rasmussen Employment Index rose for the second straight month in January. At 66.3, the monthly measure of workplace confidence is up two points from the month before and up five points from a year ago.

Sixteen percent (16%) now say their employer is hiring over the next couple of months, while 27% say their employer is laying people off. Bleak as those numbers appear, they are an improvement from a month ago and the most positive since the fall of 2008.

This is the first time the number who say their organization is hiring has reached 16% since September 2008. That was also the last time that the number hiring exceeded the number laying people off. Only once since October 2008 has the number who say their firms are laying people off been lower than this month’s total of 27%.

Among private sector managers, just 18% say their firms are hiring while 29% say their firms are laying people off.

Typically, an increase in the Employment Index suggests that the government’s official report on job creation – scheduled for release on Friday - will be stronger than the month before.

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of workers are worried about losing their jobs, a two-point improvement from last month. A year ago, however, just 26% were concerned about losing their jobs in the near future.

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Thirty-six percent (36%) of workers now rate their personal finances as good or excellent, up three points from a month ago but down three from this time last year. Nineteen percent (19%) say their finances are poor.

Just 25% say their finances are getting better, while 46% say their finances are getting worse.
Data released earlier today shows that 34% of workers expect to be earning more in a year. However, just 29% expect their next job to be better than their current job.

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