Job seeking jumps in July as more people anticipate losing their jobs

The proportion of people who reported searching for a job during the past four weeks rose to new highs, jumping from 19.4% in July 2023 to 28.4% in July 2024 and marking the highest reading since March 2014, according to an Aug. 19 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data.

The share of people who think they’re likely to be unemployed in the next four months also reached a record high from July 2014, while both the expected likelihood of moving to a new employer and the expected likelihood of receiving an offer in the next four months increased also.

“Satisfaction with wage compensation as well as with nonwage benefits and promotion opportunities at respondents’ current jobs all deteriorated,” the authors wrote in a statement.

In a survey of about 1,000 respondents, 88% of those who were employed four months ago were still with the same employer, marking a record low since 2014 and down from 91.4% in July 2023. The rate of transitioning to a different employer also increased to 7.1% — the highest since 2014 — with the increase since 2023 largely driven by women.

However, job satisfaction has declined related to compensation, benefits and promotions compared to 2023, especially for women, those without a college degree and those with annual household incomes less than $60,000.

The average expected annual salary in the next four months declined slightly from about $67,000 in 2023 to $65,000 in 2024 — but remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to the report.

Beyond that, the average reservation wage, or the lowest wage that respondents would be willing to accept for a new job, increased from nearly $79,000 in 2023 to $81,000 in 2024, which is slightly lower than the record high of $81,822 in March 2024.

Employee sentiment increased during the first quarter of 2024, indicating a rebound after a steady decline during the last three quarters of 2023, according to an Eagle Hill Consulting report. The rebound means that workers may be less likely to quit their jobs.

Although attrition rates have stabilized for many employers, about half said they experienced a turnover rate of at least 15%, according to a Gallagher report. As retention continues to improve, though, employee experience and productivity may still need help, the report found.

So far in 2024, the leisure and hospitality industries recorded the highest employee exit rates in the U.S., followed by the trade, transportation and utilities sectors, according to a report from law firm Schmidt & Clark. Leaders in industries with high attrition can evaluate factors that may lead to turnover, such as burnout, culture, lack of progression and compensation concerns, the firm said.