Nearly three in four adults – 73% — said in 2025 they were either doing okay or living comfortably financially, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Federal Reserve.
The Fed said the findings of the report, the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) and conducted in October 2025, was consistent with findings from the 2024 survey. However, both years were also below the overall high of 78% of adults reporting “okay or living comfortably” from 2021.
The Fed said the survey results found prices to be the most common financial concern of those surveyed. Those citing prices as either a major or minor concern was 91%, unchanged from the previous year. The share who cited “price increases” as a “major concern” dropped to 53%, down from 56% in 2024, the Fed said.
However, the survey was conducted well before inflation surged beginning in March with the rise in gasoline prices following the start of the war in Iran.
Regarding the labor market, 42% of adults said “finding or keeping a job” was either a minor or major concern, up from 37% in 2024. The survey found a small increase in layoffs, with 7% of all adults reported being laid off, up from 6% in 2024.
The report also looked at the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. It found 25% of workers used generative AI at work in the prior month. More than four in five (81%) of users agreed that the technology saves them time. Those workers were also more likely to agree that the technology would improve their careers than to say that they were worried that AI would replace their jobs.
Workers who did not use AI in the prior month saw fewer potential benefits, the Fed said.
Federal Reserve Board issues Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 report
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