The average expected likelihood of people working past age 62 decreased to 48.8% from 50.1% in July 2021, according to results of the July 2022 SCE Labor Market Survey released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data.

It was the lowest reading since the survey began in March 2014.

Sixty-two is the age at which most workers can apply for Social Security retirement benefits.

The average expected likelihood of people working beyond age 67 also declined to 31.3% from 32.4% in July 2021. Sixty-seven is the age at which workers born in or after 1960 can apply to receive full Social Security retirement benefits.

Fewer workers moving to other employers

The report also noted that the rate at which workers are transitioning to different employers declined last month to 4.1% from 5.9% in July 2021. The decline was most pronounced for women and for respondents with annual household incomes of less than $60,000, the Fed noted.

Among the survey respondents who were employed four months ago, 91.8% still were employed.

There was a slight uptick year over year in the proportion of individuals who reported searching for a job in the previous four weeks, from 24% in July 2021 to 24.7% in July 2022. The increase was driven by respondents younger than age 45 and those with college degrees, according to the report.

Job offers have increased year over year as well, with 21.1% of people reporting having received at least one job offer in the previous four months, up from 18.7% in July 2021. Since last July, the numbers have been trending up toward pre-pandemic levels, the bank noted.

Although fewer respondents reported transitioning to different employers in the current survey, many are still looking to switch jobs, according to the report. The expected likelihood of moving to a new employer increased to 11%, from 10.3% in July 2021, whereas the average expected likelihood of moving to unemployment declined to 2.3% from 2.5%. The decline in the expected likelihood of moving to unemployment was most pronounced for women, the report noted. 

The average expected likelihood of receiving at least one job offer in the next four months declined slightly year over year, to 21.1% from 21.6%, remaining below pre-pandemic levels. 

Conditional on expecting an offer, the average expected annual salary of job offers in the next four months increased to $60,310 from $57,206 in July 2021, reaching the second highest reading since the survey began in March 2014. The highest reading was recorded in March 2021.