Survey says just getting by is in decline

U.S. workers are reporting their personal finances have improved this year compared to 2010, an employment consulting firm said. In a May 18 to June 3 CareerBuilder poll of 5,200 workers, 42 percent of respondents indicated they "usually or always live paycheck to paycheck." The figure is a slight improvement from 2010, when 43 percent indicated they lived paycheck to paycheck, CareerBuilder said. Other indicators point to improved personal financial positions. In 2010, 22 percent indicated they had missed at least one payment on bills, while 20 percent in this year's survey indicated they had missed a bill payment. "A better employment picture … has brought more steady incomes into households and workers are paying much closer attention to spending decisions and savings," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder in a statement. "The majority of U.S. workers (72 percent) reported they are more fiscally responsible since the recession and have made a variety of changes to their living and spending habits," she said. Relatively wealthy workers are not immune to living check to check. Fourteen percent of workers making six figure incomes indicated they were living from one payday to the next, an improvement from a year earlier when 17 percent in the six-figure category indicated they were just getting by. Copyright 2011 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI contentis expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.