(NewsNation) — Americans are increasingly worried about making ends meet and even high earners are feeling the pinch, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Overall, 35% of consumers said they are concerned about making ends meet in the next six months, up from 29% a year ago.
Over the past year, the rise in concern has been especially pronounced among those making $150,000 or more. Of that group, 32.5% are worried about making ends meet, up nearly 11 percentage points from 21.7% last year.
Much of the anxiety appears to stem from the softening labor market, which has resulted in mass layoffs across lucrative sectors like tech and finance.
Nearly 40% of high earners in the survey said they’re concerned about getting laid off, the highest share of any income group listed among employed respondents. Young adults, ages 18 to 35, were more worried about losing their jobs (41%) than older workers 36 to 55 (29%).
Although employers have continued to add jobs at a strong pace, the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits has risen, reaching 1.84 million for the week of June 15. That’s the most since November 2021.
Job openings are also at their lowest level in over three years but remain above the pre-pandemic average.
For many Americans, anxiety about the future isn’t just hypothetical; the financial strain is happening in real time at the grocery store and gas pump.
The share of those struggling to pay their bills is up from a year ago, increasing from 19.7% in April 2023 to 22.5% in April 2024. Among those making less than $40,000 a year, nearly a third said they had trouble paying their bills.
The share of high earners struggling to pay their bills has more than doubled from 3.4% last year to 6.9% in the latest survey.
The financial strain has caused more than two-thirds of consumers to take action like slashing essential spending (23.5%), borrowing from friends and family (18%), or raiding their retirement savings early (10%), the survey found.
Meanwhile, roughly half of those surveyed said they experienced a financial disruption like a major medical expense or an unexpected rent hike over the past year.
There was some positive news: Americans are feeling better about their income prospects compared to a year ago. About 28% of those surveyed expect to earn more this year, up from 24% who said the same last year. However, that’s still down from 34% who were optimistic at the start of 2024.
The latest findings come from the Philadelphia Fed’s quarterly LIFE survey of 5,000 U.S. consumers. The survey was fielded from March 22 to April 6, 2024.