TechFlow, September 8 — According to Jinshi Data, this summer's weak labor market has affected Americans' views on the economic outlook. The New York Fed's latest Consumer Expectations Survey shows that in August, consumers' outlook on future employment and unemployment worsened, while short-term inflation expectations rose. The share of people expecting the unemployment rate to rise over the next year increased by 1.7 percentage points from July's 37.4% to 39.1%.
Meanwhile, the expectation that individuals could find a new job if they lost their current one dropped by 5.8 percentage points to 44.9%—the lowest level since the New York Fed began tracking the data in June 2013. Pessimism about the labor market may be justified.
Hiring has remained weak since May. In August, the U.S. added only 22,000 jobs, far below economists' expectations of 76,500 new jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, the highest since 2021, and the number of people filing for unemployment benefits continued to climb steadily in August.
