Job Security Concerns Grow as Probability of Finding New Employment Dips

The latest survey by the Federal Bank of New York reveals growing job insecurity among Americans, coupled with a surge in debt-delinquency expectations, reaching their highest level since the pandemic. These developments indicate mounting challenges for U.S. consumers and signal potential trouble ahead. According to the New York Fed’s survey, released on Aug. 12, American consumers have become more pessimistic about the prospect of finding a new job after losing their current one as the perceived probability of finding new employment fell by 0.9 percentage point, to 52.5 percent in July. The nearly 1 percentage-point drop is a significant decline, all the more so given the recent disappointing government jobs report, which showed that the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected and the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent, defying expectations that it would hold steady at 4.1 percent....