Senior Advisor and Research Fellow, Consumer Finance Institute
21 Jun ’22
This report shares results from Wave 12 of a national survey of consumers investigating the effects of COVID-19 on employment and income data, including employment through the crisis, income changes across the last three years, and financial security over the next three to 12 months.
Results collected during the 12th COVID-19 Survey of Consumers in April 2022 reveal that metrics relating to employment, income, and financial concerns have resumed steady improvement since early 2021.
While the source of this general shift in outlook is not clear, improvements are seen in nearly every segment we follow. Reported job losses among respondents hit the lowest percentage since the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020, and nearly every demographic cohort reported flat or improving job losses relative to Wave 11. The rate of both onsite work and normal or increased work schedules increased in Wave 12. Respondents are more optimistic about their future income than they were at the same point last year, predicting their annual income would be higher than the previous year. The proportion of respondents expressing concern about making ends meet decreased significantly in Wave 12, nearly returning to the lowest reported rate we observed in April 2021. More details are available in the full report.
