Randstad announced today its monthly Employee Confidence Index has increased for the second consecutive month to 54.3 in October, up 1.9 points from September's reading. The Index has steadily increased with more than 1,500 U.S. employees surveyed in October -- indicating workers are feeling more positive about the economy, jobs and their future employability.  

"We're seeing a positive increase in employee attitudes about the economy and their upcoming prospects for new jobs," said Jim Link, managing director of human resources for Randstad US. "Our October report clearly shows workers believe more jobs are available, but more importantly, over forty percent are optimistic in their personal ability to secure them. Interestingly enough, this sentiment continues to improve even with negative news coverage on economic conditions abroad, especially in Europe. However, September's improvement in the nation's unemployment rate, declining below 8 percent to 7.8 percent for the first time since 2009, is largely attributed to more previously unemployed people taking on part-time employment. This indicates to us companies may still be taking a wait-and-see approach to hiring, but they appear to be loosening their reigns a bit to keep up with demand and productivity. One thing is certain -- everyone will be eyeing the final monthly jobs report this Friday leading up to the election."

Look Inside the Report:

Employee Confidence Increases For Second Month

• The Employee Confidence Index has increased 1.9 points from last month's reading (8.7 point increase from October 2011; 4.2 point increase from October 2010)

Confidence Rises around Jobs & the Economy

• Sixty-six percent of employees believe the economy is getting better or staying the same versus 59 percent in September
• There was a seven percentage point drop (46 percent in October vs. 53 percent in September) in employees who believe there are fewer jobs available

U.S. Employees Remain Confident in their Employability; More Likely to Transition to A New Job

• More than one-out-of-four workers (43 percent) are confident in their ability to find a new job; a number that has remained strong throughout 2012
• In October, 37 percent of employees indicated they plan to transition to a new job, up five percentage points from last month

Workers Optimistic in Employers & Job Security

• Employee confidence in the future of their current employers remains strong, but dipped slightly in October to 59 percent (from 63 percent in September)
• A majority of employees, 70 percent, continue to indicate a sense of strong security in their current jobs and are not concerned about being laid off (compared to 74 percent indicating so in the previous month)

The Randstad U.S. Employee Confidence Index measures workforce trends across the country since 2004.