Hudson Index: Tax Season Means Confidence Up

In addition to the rise in confidence among all workers, the start of the year brought a dramatic improvement in sentiment among accounting and finance professionals, according to the Hudson Employment Index.

Worker confidence among accounting and finance professionals jumped in January, after taking a tumble to close out 2006. The index for the segment rose 14.5 points last month, to 120.5. Improved sentiments regarding personal finances, job satisfaction and a decrease in expected layoffs spurred this increase. The latest reading for this group of workers is almost eight points higher than last January’s 112.6. 

The national index, which measures employee confidence monthly in a survey of approximately 9,000 workers across all industries, also climbed 1.5 points, to 104.2.

The accounting and finance worker index also revealed:

  • The number of workers rating their finances as “excellent,” or, “good,” rose slightly to 57 percent, while the percentage of workers who reported that their finances were getting better jumped 12 points -- to 56 percent;
  • Only 13 percent of workers reported their company would be laying off staff, a drop from last month’s 19 percent; and,
  • The number of workers who are happy at work jumped, from 72 percent in December, to 78 percent in January.
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