Following a sharp drop in August, confidence among accounting and finance workers rebounded to hit a record high for the year in September, according to staffing firm Hudson.
The Hudson Employment Index, which tracks workers' confidence in the employment market, gained 5.6 points to hit 119.3 - a record high since Hudson began tracking industry-specific employment confidence in January, and still well above the national index for all workers, which fell two points from the previous month to 106.9.
Hudson said that the renewed confidence of accounting and finance workers can be attributed to a five-point increase in the percentage of industry workers who reported positive job satisfaction, to 75 percent, in September.
Accounting and finance workers' job security concerns have also declined. The percentage worried about losing their jobs fell six percentage points to 14 percent in September from 20 percent in August. The percentage of industry workers looking for new jobs fell two percentage points, to 70 percent, in September.
While private sector employees remain the most bullish segment of the workforce, across all industries, the index saw a decrease in the percentage of private sector workers reporting hiring plans by their employers for the first time in five months. The percentage of all workers and managers who anticipate hiring fell a point, to 32 percent and 33 percent, respectively. The index results are based on a national phone survey of 10,103 workers.
"Optimism about the job market has been impacted by influencers such as increased energy prices, lagging salaries and uncertainty around the presidential election," said Jeff Anderson, senior vice president of Hudson Global Resources.
