- An estimated 800,000 government employees have not been paid their last two paychecks
- CareerBuilder survey found that 785 of US workers are living paycheck to paycheck
- Markets may be overlooking the drag on US economy of these struggling workers
A CareerBuilder survey found that 78% of US workers are living paycheck to paycheck. This statistic is concerning for the US economy, especially considering the partial US government shutdown is now over 1 month in duration.
This means that the majority of workers have fallen behind on payments such as rent and auto loans, while piling on credit card debt to pay for essentials.
The S&P 500 and DOW Jones are both up over 5% in 2019, showing that investors are not concerned about the impact of a shutdown. An estimated 800,000 workers are affected by the government shutdown. If the majority is actually living paycheck to paycheck, the economy may be at risk of a larger ripple effect that may drag consumer spending and GDP growth for Q1 figures.
Additional findings from the CareerBuilder survey include:
- Nearly one in 10 workers making $100,000+ live paycheck to paycheck
- More than 1 in 4 workers do not set aside any savings each month
- Nearly 3 in 4 workers say they are in debt – and more than half think they always will be
- More than half of minimum wage workers say they have to work more than one job to make ends meet
- 28% of workers making $50,000-$99,999 usually or always live paycheck to paycheck, and 70% are in debt
Article By: Fatimah Aminu
Fatimah is an experienced editor at various financial and consumer publishing houses. She obtained a master’s degree in Publishing from NYU, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree. She is currently earning a second masters degree at CUNY online in Psychology. Fatimah covers healthcare, cannabis and technology.