32% Expect Higher Unemployment a Year From Now, 27% Hold Opposite View

Americans are divided about whether the unemployment rate is going to head up or down over the coming year.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 32% of Adults think unemployment will be higher in a year’s time. Only 27% expect the unemployment rate to be lower one year from now.

Private sector workers are more likely than government workers to think unemployment will be higher in a year’s time.

The current numbers are more pessimistic than a month ago when just 22% thought unemployment would be higher in a year. However, the latest numbers are similar to results found a year ago.

Thirty-four percent (34%) expect little change in the unemployment rate over the next year (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Just 20% of adults say the job market is better than it was a year ago, down from January but above results found all of last year. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say the job market is worse today.

For comparison, in March of last year, 53% said the job market was worse than the year before and only 15% said it was better.

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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on February 25-26, 2011 Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.