U.S. Job Market Pessimism Hits Record Low, Gallup Poll

U.S. workers expressed unprecedented pessimism about the job market in late 2025, with nearly three-quarters viewing it as a poor time to seek quality employment, according to a Gallup survey released this week.

The poll, which surveyed 22,368 full- and part-time workers from October 30 to November 13, 2025, found that just 28 percent considered the fourth quarter a favorable period for job hunting. That marked a stark drop from 70 percent who felt the same in mid-2022, representing a 42-point decline that Gallup described as the sharpest erosion in job market confidence over the past four years. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 1 percentage point.

For the first time since Gallup began tracking workforce wellbeing in 2009, the share of workers reporting they were struggling, at 49 percent, surpassed those who said they were thriving, at 46 percent. Employee engagement also hit a decade-low of 31 percent. The downturn accelerated in 2024, narrowing the gap between thriving and struggling workers, though a majority still reported thriving as recently as early 2022, when over 50 percent did so.

Demographic divides sharpened the gloom. College-educated workers proved...