- The proportion of individuals who reported searching for a job in the past four weeks retreated to 23.8 percent, after reaching 28.4 percent, the highest reading of the series, in July. The decline was driven by respondents without a college degree and those with annual household incomes less than $60k.
- The average reservation wage—the lowest wage respondents would be willing to accept for a new job—increased to $82,135, a new series high, from $81,147 in July.
- The average expected likelihood of working beyond age 62 bounced back to 50.6 percent, after reaching a series low of 45.8 percent in March 2024. This is the highest reading of the series since March 2021. The average expected likelihood of working beyond age 67 slightly declined, to 34.0 percent, but well above the yearly averages of the series for 2021, 2022, and 2023.
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The SCE Labor Market Survey is fielded every four months as a rotating module of the Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE). The data are updated online as results come in.