Two-thirds of Americans Rate Job Market in Their Region as Bad

NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As overall economy woes continue, there has been a strong focus during this recovery on the issue of jobs.  Not only is there general dissatisfaction with the current job market, it is at the lowest it's been since over a year ago. This month, just 9% of Americans would rate the job market of their region of the nation as good while 67% would rate it as bad and one-quarter (24%) say it is neither good nor bad. This is not that different from September when 11% of U.S. adults said the job market in their region was good and 67% said it was bad.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,463 adults surveyed online between October 10 and 17, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

In looking at how people in specific regions of the country think about the job market, Southerners seem to be more optimistic while things seem to be the worst in the West. In the South, while only one in ten (11%) say the job market in their region is good, just three in five (62%) say it is bad while over one-quarter (27%) say it is neither good nor bad. Among Westerners, 8% say the job market in their region is good while three-quarters (74%) say it is bad.

Increasing jobs in the U.S.

When asked, among six suggestions, what would significantly increase jobs in the United States, more than two in five Americans (44%) say cutting government spending and two in five (40%) say cutting taxes for Americans. Over one-third of U.S. adults (36%) believe reducing business regulations would significantly increase jobs while 34% say cutting taxes on businesses and corporations, 29% say lowering interest rates, and 12% say more government spending. Almost one-quarter (22%) say none of these six actions would significantly increase jobs in the U.S.

There are definitely partisan differences on what would increase jobs in the U.S. Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say cutting government spending will create jobs (63% versus 27%), reducing business regulation (55% versus 19%), cutting taxes on businesses and corporations (50% versus 22%), and cutting taxes (50% versus 33%). Democrats, however, are only more likely than Republicans to say more government spending will increase jobs (21% versus 1%).

So What?

Americans are clearly not sure where the jobs will come from, but one thing is clear – they are definitely not happy with the current state of the job market. They are looking to someone for answers and, at the moment, they are looking towards the President. If he can give them hope, they will probably think better of him. But, they aren't seeing that and after three years in office, this may be one of the things that cause them to look elsewhere next November.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between October 10 and 17, 2011 among 2,463 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

J40806
Q720, 730

The Harris Poll® #113, October 27, 2011
By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American and European offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

Press Contact:
Corporate Communications
Harris Interactive
212-539-9600
[email protected]

SOURCE Harris Interactive

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