U.S. Workers Report Highest Job Satisfaction Since 2005

[Kilgore]

Just more than half of U.S. workers—51%—said they were satisfied with their jobs in 2017, the highest level since 2005, according to a new report from The Conference Board, a business-research group.

Over the past seven years, Americans report feeling better about their pay along with a greater sense of job security, both features of an economy with a low unemployment rate and a long decline in layoffs. In July, jobless claims continued an extended post-recession slide and hit their lowest level in nearly 50 years.

Workers on the higher end of the income scale are happier than their less-affluent counterparts. Nearly 58% of those with total household income above $75,000 report feeling satisfied at work, compared with around 45% of those from households earning less than $75,000.

“These are higher-skilled workers, managers, and they tend to have more control over their day-to-day work activities,” said Rebecca Ray, leader of The Conference Board’s human capital practice. “Having more control can drive a lot of how you feel about the job.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-workers-report-highest-job-satisfaction-since-2005-1535544000

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If this trend continues, it will be the driver for Trumps reelection. I see it in my workplace. All shifts staffed and plentiful overtime results in Trump Love. Its interesting to watch since many are folks who worked for Bill Clinton and Obama GOTV then flipped for Trump in 2016.

[Elwood P Dowd]

1. Sounds like Rupert Murdoch propaganda.

Look for a Trump twitter storm about this.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

2. I see the same.

Work is busier than usual. This, however, has not translated into higher wages.
For me, I don't give a shit about money. Character and doing the right thing are more important.
I will never understand the, "It's OK as long as it benefits me..." psyche.

[AJT]

3. For most people it's all about the economy. Most people don't pay much attention to politics.

I think we need to prepare ourselves for a 45 victory in 2020. The GOP congress will not impeach him no matter what, and winning enough seats to take control of both the house and senate are very slim. Most incumbent republicans know they will be re elected through cheating. If the economy stays as it is 45 will probably be re elected.

[Kilgore]

15. You nailed it

And there needs to be a plan that takes this into account.

[John Fante]

4. Gump's adjusted net approval is at a whopping -12 right now.

If that's considered "Trump love", his odds of winning re-election are poor at best.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. With all the great news he's at 41% approval

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

And we have no idea what the economy will be like two years from now.

[octoberlib]

9. It's bullshit. If the economy mattered that much and they credited it to Trump,

his approval would be a lot higher.

[octoberlib]

6. "Many folks who worked for Clinton and Obama GOTV then

flipped for Trump in 2016" Do you have a source for this? WTF?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. What does that sentence even mean ?

[octoberlib]

11. I don't even know but I'm pretty sure they were working for Hillary.

[Kilgore]

14. See below

[Kilgore]

13. Source is my own two eyes

I work in a union mill. The union supported Hillary. The majority of rank and file did not. The reason why is that from 2008 to16 the second shift was cut and the first cut back. In addition, two production lines were shut. By 2016, the folks wanted a change, and they did not believe Hillary would bring it, so they turned to Trump.

By mid 17 we were at full capacity, everyone who was laid off is back, and the town is alive again. The fact that the first shift union steward wears a MAGA hat pretty much says it all.

Cant speak about anywhere else, but here the Dem candidate will need an issue that overcomes money in the pocket to win.

[octoberlib]

16. really? AT&T just laid off thousands of people and outsourced a bunch of jobs.

And there's Harley and a bunch of others. Not to mention farmers, who've been decimated by Trump's tariffs so bad that taxpayers are on hook for billions of dollars of bail-outs. Consumer prices are rising( because that's what tariffs are, a tax on consumers) and wages are stagnant.

No, Trump's a corrupt money-laundering con-man who will finally be thoroughly investigated when the Dems take over the house. Trump's not only corrupt, he's the stupidest son of a bitch on the planet. Let'em wear their MAGA hats, who gives a shit?

[Kilgore]

17. Hey, I'm not defending him, but I'm not ignoring facts either

My example and yours taken in isolation don't tell the whole story. But you cant argue that unemployment on a national level is at historical at 3.9%

https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

And AA unemployment is also at historical lows.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU04000006

Thinking this will not have an effect on the 2020 voting trends is being blind to reality. So whats the plan? Will that formerly unemployed worker that voted for Trump now vote Democratic? Whats the plan to regain their vote? Have only heard crickets so far.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. The economy has added jobs for ...

My example and yours taken in isolation don't tell the whole story. But you cant argue that unemployment on a national level is at historical at 3.9%

The economy has added jobs for ninety four straight months:


https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/longest-consecutive-positive-monthly-job-growth-u-s-history/

How long has Trump been president ?

And AA unemployment is also at historical lows.

It was going down under President Obama. The only thing Trump achieved was leaving the trend unabated





Your arguments might work better somewhere else.

[Kilgore]

19. People who vote with their wallets

Probably are not tracking the job creation record of the past 94 months, but rather their immediate circumstances.

I've been here since 2012, I'm not going anywhere.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. If

Probably are not tracking the job creation record of the past 94 months, but rather their immediate circumstances.

If folks can't see past their "immediate circumstances " and are prisoners of the moment why is Trump enjoying an approval rating of forty one percent:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

and why are the Democrats enjoying an eight point lead in the generic ballot:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-generic-ballot-polls/


It begs the questions that if times are so great why aren't voters rewarding Trump and his party for them ?

Anecdotes are not data.

P.S. My cousin is IBEW. He hates Trump with heat of a thousand suns.

[Kilgore]

22. I hope you are right

It just doesn't look that way here at the moment.

[Awsi Dooger]

24. Your points are excellent

Too many posters here are in absolute denial toward how much benefit of a doubt goes with incumbency.

Trump is going to be hellish to defeat in 2020 because barring a sharp economic downturn his approval ratings will steadily rise due to the factors you isolated...when people are feeling good about their situation they don't nitpick when it started. The credit goes to the person currently in office.

One year ago people here thought Trump's approval rating would remain at 38%. I remember those posts, "Biden can't defeat a guy with a 38% approval rating?"

I warned that approval would not logically remain at 38%.

Now the same group wants to believe Trump will remain stuck at 41%.

Newsflash: That won't happen either. Big picture dominates short term. Virtually never in the nation's history has a president had such low approval ratings with an economy and consumer confidence like this.

So how do we approach the split? Do we say Donald Trump is such an outlier he can never own approval ratings standard with his economy, or do we conclude those favorable numbers have to naturally rise?

I'm in the second category, and it's not close.

[John Fante]

27. Trump's approval rating has been stuck at 40-41% for the

better part of 7 months now. This is with mostly positive economic news.

The economy was similarly bullish when Trump sank to 38% last year.

There's more evidence to suggest that Trump could falter in popularity despite the strong economy, and far less evidence to suggest he's on the verge of getting a boost from it.

Of course, it could be argued that the economy is already propping up Trump's dismal numbers lol. I personally believe this to be true. This speaks volumes to his unpopularity and ineffectiveness as a POTUS.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. Trump is a divider, not a uniter. No sentient person would dispute that.

The thing is his slice is smaller than our slice.

He lost the popular vote by 3,000,000 votes and won the Electoral College by 78,000. To accomplish that he needed an opponent with unfavorables nearly as high as his regardless of whether it was deserved, help from Russia, and Comey saying his opponent was under FBI investigation ten days before the election.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. There are no parallels for his ascent and there will be no parallels for his descent.

He was at 44% approval on the day he was inaugurated and he is at 41.5% approval today, all the good economic news notwithstanding.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

The data indicates that voters are more concerned with their own economic situation than the national economic situation. Net wage growth is down, a random poster's personal experience notwithstanding.

A slowing rate of job growth in July nonetheless managed to pull some workers off the sidelines, but wage growth mired at 2.7 percent began to elicit concerns that wages will fail to keep up with inflation as the economy picks up steam.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/price-rising-employment-slow-wage-growth-trade-risks-n897461

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. It looks that way at Local Union 3 IBEW

My cousin hates him with the heat of a thousand suns.


He would rather starve than become a Trump supporter for filthy lucre.

[John Fante]

26. Because anecdotal evidence is only useful when if bolsters

your argument, huh?

[GusBob]

8. Verbatim from Ad on radio selling franchise:

Are you one of the 70% of Americans who hates their job?

[ecstatic]

10. During Obama's presidency, the media (both right and left) REFUSED

to say anything positive about the economy. Any positive jobs numbers were always diminished and disclaimers were given about how it's not really true. Now all positive indicators are taken as 100% fact, with no caveats or disclaimers. So of course people will feel better.

[samplegirl]

12. Really

I doubt that many Americans are feeling greater job security

[a kennedy]

21. Phitttt, it's The Wall Street Jounal......

Don’t put much stock in what they say....... JMHO.

[ffr]

23. 2005? So in two years we'll be in economic collapse loosing 1M jobs a month?

About par the the course. Enjoy the rosy picture folks. Inflation and deficits don't get a lot of news, but when the bill collector comes to call, it's going to be sobering.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

30. "Workers on the higher end of the income scale are happier than their less-affluent counterparts."

... uh, no shit, Sherlock.

This type of deep analysis is what makes the Wall Street Journal so great.