Gallup: 78 Percent Say ‘Bad Time’ to Find Good Job

Americans remain pessimistic about the job market, with 78 percent saying it’s a “bad time” to find a “quality job,” according to a new Gallup poll. That’s the lowest level of pessimism since September 2008, and it represents a sharp decline from 87 percent in February.

A total of 19 percent of respondents say now is a good time to find a quality job, up from 13 percent in February. Even that 19 percent total is far below the 26 percent of Americans who felt it was a good time find a quality job in February 2008, when the Great Recession was just heating up. The current optimism level also is far below the 45 percent total of February 2007, when the economy was still in strong growth mode.

The most optimistic totals of 2011 came in April, when 17 percent of respondents said it was a good time to find a quality job, and 81 percent said it was a bad time.

Democrats are more optimistic about the job market than Republicans, with 22 percent of Democrats saying now is a good time to find a quality job and only 12 percent of Republicans saying that. Among independents, 21 percent say it’s a good time to find a quality job.