FINANCIAL SURVIVAL OR STABILITY? WORKERS AND THE JOB MARKET WEIGH IN

The following information was released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta:

They have lost hope of becoming financially stable, but many folks in households earning $85,000 a year or less say they remain optimistic they will be able survive ongoing financial and economic hardships.

This sentiment of personal confidence amidst economic challenges emerges from the Federal Reserve System's latest national gauge of perspectives of workers with low- to moderate-incomes, the 2026 Worker Perspectives report titled "When every dollar counts: Inside the economic struggles of workers who earn low to moderate incomes."1 Included in this report are interviews with workers who are served by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in the Fed's Sixth District.2

The power of the 2026 report is heightened when its findings are compared to those of similar research conducted in 2022 and published in 2023, "Worker Voices: Shifting perspectives and expectations on employment."3 The 2023 report provided a unique view of how job seekers and workers in lower-wage roles navigated the labor market at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the three years between these two research efforts, responses from low- and moderate-income workers have shifted from somewhat optimistic to somber. The 2023 research findings showed people had hope for themselves and the economy. They thought they could get the skills or education necessary to earn more money and gain control over their work-life balance. Conversely, the 2026 report cites people speaking "with rising urgency about economic struggles," of daily lives "filled with distress," of dealing with an "impossible balancing act," and focusing more on "survival as opposed to mobility." The concerns are the same for both the national respondents and those in the Atlanta Fed's Sixth District.

Workers, in general, with job histories or advanced skills that might have enabled them to be financially stable in another economy, remain somewhat confident in their ability to navigate a changing market even while they have less confidence in the economy as a whole. Examples include a man in the Sixth District who has worked 26 years as a cook for a corporate-owned restaurant group and thinks he'll make it to full retirement. One military veteran who earned a master's degree in project management with benefits from the GI Bill can't secure a job commensurate with his education level so is continuing his education through the GI Bill.

In their own words, here are a few perspectives offered by residents of the Sixth District in late 2025:

"I'm not like Kim Kardashian, but we have enough money at the end of the month."

"I was donating plasma as a supplemental income and it was wonderful while I was able to do it. Twice a week, about an hour and a half, and I think around $500 or $600."

"Before I got this job, I put in, I want to say, 63 applications and had three interviews over the period of two years. That's the problem we're going to see with the career field, but not the regular job market. I'm not too worried about the regular job market. Somebody always will need someone to push a broom."

"We have a bonus system at my work where they give us goals, and you can earn a $1,000 bonus every quarter. I still haven't been paid for quarter two or three."

The worker's financial struggles are echoed by many small businesses, as reflected in the results of the Fed's 2025 Small Business Credit Survey and from which the Atlanta Fed extracted information specific to the Sixth District from the national survey.4 Sixty-nine percent of Southeastern small businesses report poor or fair financial conditions, according to the Atlanta Fed's analysis published in June.5

Another condition reverberating between workers and Sixth District firms is an observed decrease in problems hiring or retaining workers, which is also in line with the low-hire, low-fire trend noted by researchers at the Chicago Fed.6 In addition, some workers in the 2026 Worker Perspectives report acknowledge firms, too, face financial challenges that generally included higher costs and operating expenses, with some indicating they think bonuses are being paid to upper management while leaving workers at lower wages levels bereft of bonuses.

These concerns speak to differences between the nature of the economy coming out of the pandemic compared to the more recent economy.

A few years ago, workers held the advantage. Quit rates were high as scarce workers skipped from one job to another that had higher pay or benefits. The inflation rate was elevated above the Fed's target of two percent, but prices seemed manageable to workers seeing pay gains. More recently, employers have embraced a low-hire, low-fire practice as they address issues such as advances in technology, tariffs, and geopolitical conflicts.

Some workers in the Sixth District think companies could relieve financial pressure on the costs of living by lowering prices. They don't expect that to happen:

"Meat prices are insane and that's one thing that never will come back down. I personally think they're a little bit greedy, but maybe I would be, too, if I were the owner of that corporation."

"The rent has gone insane. We have a mortgage, thankfully, because it's cheaper than rent. Who can imagine rent prices ever going back down? They're never going back down."

"The mobile home we're in cost $60,000 in 2016 and now it costs over $100,000. The price went up during COVID and never came back down. They're just not going to drop the price."

Telltale quantitative indicators of the economic stress that underpins worker's concerns appear in various Fed reports.

Credit card debt reached an all-time high in late 2025 and most of the increase was among those facing financial hardship. Sixty-five percent of credit card debt was held by those "finding it difficult to get by" or "just getting by," according to the "Economic Well-Being of US Households in 2025" released in May 2026.7

The "K-shaped economy" that was such a buzz in 2025 may be less monolithic than previously thought but still shows lower income workers being left behind in terms of spending. A number of Fed researchers have examined the story behind reports of rich shoppers and everyone else experiencing completely different economies. A recent paper released by the Atlanta Fed contends spending grew in all income groups, "but at sharply divergent rates."8

The perspective provided by workers in these qualitative studies adds a human dimension to some of the numbers-based, quantitative reports produced by other Fed researchers. The Fed employs a wide range of research tools that economists use to gain a deeper understanding of the labor market. Policymakers on the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee consider these insights, gathered from an array of economic stakeholders including business and industry, community-based organizations as well as from workers and job seekers, in setting the nation's short-term interest rate and other aspects of monetary policy.

Where does all this leave the workers struggling to navigate the current economy, and the Fed researchers trying to inform more effective policies and practices that take workers' realities into account?

The Worker Perspectives report observes that most participants expect their future prospects for career advancement are eroding in an economy and job market that evoke little confidence but will try to persevere through an economy that's precarious to households earning $85,000 or less.

Researchers see the need for ongoing work on three topics in particular: the potential emergence and effects of a K-shaped economy on low- and moderate-income workers; effects of business conditions on opportunities for economic mobility, and the effect of generative artificial intelligence on labor market attachment and navigation. Researchers bring this potential qualitative work back to the Fed's mandate to promote maximum employment by observing results would contribute to "understanding labor markets, informing effective policy, and guiding strategic practice to create greater economic security for workers and to meet future employer demand."9

1 Research for the 2026 Worker Perspectives report was coordinated by the Atlanta Fed, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Chicago and on behalf of the Federal Reserve System. Ipsos Group S.A., a multinational market research and consulting firm, helped recruit participants and ensure data quality and privacy. Sixty-three workers participated in one of 11 focus groups conducted in late 2025, including Spanish language sessions. Researchers set the income threshold at $85,000 or less because the nation's median income is $84,000, according to the Census. Households earning less than $85,000 are considered low- to moderate-income and represent half the nation's economy. Sarah Miller, Merissa Piazza, Elizabeth Simpson, and Kristen Broady, "When every dollar counts: Inside the economic struggles of workers who earn low to moderate incomes," Worker Perspectives, Fed Communities (The Federal Reserve System, June 24, 2026). See also, https://fedcommunities.org.

2 The Federal Reserve's Sixth District includes the states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

3 Sarah Miller, Merissa Piazza, Ashley Putnam, and Kristen Broady, "Worker Voices: Shifting perspectives and expectations on employment," Worker Voices, Fed Communities (The Federal Reserve System, May 24, 2023).

4 "2026 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey," Small Business Credit Survey (Federal Reserve Banks, March 3, 2026).

5 Mary Hirt and Aaliyah Price, "How Are Small Businesses Doing in the Southeast? A Look at the Latest Survey Results," Partners Update (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, June 25, 2026).

6 Scott A. Brave, Ben Henken, Ezra Karger, and Aryan Safi, "A Closer Look at the 'Low-Hire, Low-Fire' Labor Market with the Chicago Fed Labor Market Indicators," Chicago Fed Insights (The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, March 2026).

7 The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, "Economic Well-Being of US Households in 2025," Research and Analysis (May 2026).

8 Aditi Routh and Oz Shy, "K-Shaped Economy or Not? Evidence from a Payments Survey," Policy Hub (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, May 2026).

9 Sarah Miller, Merissa Piazza, Elizabeth Simpson, and Kristen Broady, "When every dollar counts: Inside the economic struggles of workers who earn low to moderate incomes."