Wealthier Americans are more worried about rising unemployment than any other income group, NY Fed finds, as fear of 'white-collar recession' grows | Fortune

"New labor data showing shrinking job opportunities and increased unemployment has perhaps stoked the fears of wealthier Americans more than their lower-income compatriots. The New York Federal Reserve's August 2025Survey of Consumer Expectations found Americans earning more than $100,000 more often believe unemployment will rise in the next year compared to those earning less. Increased pessimism may be a result of fears that white-collar jobs are being impacted by the rocky economic and political environment."

"According to New York Federal Reserve's August 2025 Survey of Consumer Expectations released on Monday, of 1,300 household heads, those making more than $100,000 per year had the greatest expectations that the U.S. unemployment rate would be higher one year from now. While 35.4% of respondents making under $50,000, and 39.2% of those making between $50,000 to $100,000, believed jobless rates would be higher in a year, that rate rose to 44.2% among respondents making more than $100,000."

"Moreover, this trend is replicated in demographic data looking at education levels and numeracy, or knowledge around interpreting numbers: Those with greater levels of completed education, such as a bachelor's degree, as well as those with high numeracy, have greater expectations of growing unemployment over the next year, and the gap between those groups and counterparts with less education and numeracy has widened."

New labor data show shrinking job opportunities and increased unemployment. The New York Federal Reserve's August 2025 Survey of Consumer Expectations of 1,300 household heads finds higher-income respondents most likely to expect higher unemployment one year ahead. While 35.4% of respondents earning under $50,000 and 39.2% of those earning $50,000–$100,000 expected rising joblessness, 44.2% of those earning more than $100,000 expected higher unemployment. Higher education and greater numeracy correlate with stronger expectations of rising unemployment, and the gap in pessimism between wealthier, more-educated respondents and their counterparts widened over the past 12 months.

Read at Fortune