PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's U.S. Job Creation Index held steady in June at +22, identical to May -- the highest monthly score since April 2008. The June data confirm that job creation rebounded this spring after dipping to +16 at the start of the year, and it now exceeds the relatively positive figures recorded in mid-2012.

Focusing on the June data for each year since 2008 holds any seasonal effects in the trend constant across years. This shows that after hiring was depressed from 2009 to 2011, it recovered in 2012 to a level similar to what it is today, as well as matched the level seen in June 2008, just before the U.S. economic crisis began.

Hiring has improved in each region of the country since January, but the more recent uptick since April is seen mainly in the South and West. Hiring in the Midwest has been flat since April. More generally, hiring has tended to be weakest in the East all year, and that continued in June with the index at +19 in the East, versus at least +22 in the other regions.

Index Components Show Little Change in Past Month or Compared With June 2012

June's results are based on 37% of U.S. adult workers saying their employers are hiring and expanding the size of their workforces and 15% saying their employers are letting workers go and reducing the size of their workforces. These figures are also unchanged from May.

Private-Sector Hiring Unchanged in June

Nongovernment workers' perceptions of hiring and firing where they work continue to be fairly positive, with a +25 Job Creation Index score among this group in June, on par with +24 measured in May. That compares with net negative perceptions of hiring among federal workers, with a -5 score, similar to the -7 in May. The June figures are up from the low point in January, while similar to June 2012.

While perceptions of job conditions among federal workers continue to be negative, on balance, those of local and state government workers remain somewhat positive, at +11 and +12 respectively.

Bottom Line

U.S. workers have been slightly more positive about their workplace hiring conditions in May and June than they were earlier this year. This aligns with Americans' broader views of national economic conditions, which have hit five-year highs in recent months. The improvements are small, to be sure, but enough to maintain the long-term recovery in the index, which now matches the level seen in April 2008 and move the index closer to the initial level of +26 Gallup recorded in January 2008. The January 2008 reading likely reflected some turmoil in the stock market that month which sent economic confidence tumbling, but before the Wall Street financial crisis later that year sent a major shock wave through the economy that many Americans continue to feel.

Gallup.com reports results from these indexes in daily, weekly, and monthly averages and in Gallup.com stories. Complete trend data are always available to view and export in the following charts:

Daily: Employment, Economic Confidence, Job Creation, Consumer Spending

Weekly: Employment, Economic Confidence, Job Creation, Consumer Spending

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