New data out earlier this week from The Conference Board revealed that nearly 63% of US workers surveyed said they were “satisfied” with their jobs, the highest rating since the poll began in 1987 (yay!)... not to be discounted, though, by the year-over-year drops in worker satisfaction observed across every one of the 26 specific categories they were asked about (yay?).

Although some subcategories like commuting saw satisfaction drop off by a negligible amount, several fell far more sharply. Indeed, while workers were much less jazzed about the bonus plan (-7.6%), wages (-5%), and health plan (-7%) offered to them by their employers compared with a year ago, none of these factors seemed to play a hand in overall job satisfaction, which nudged slightly higher (+0.4%). Why?

Perhaps there is some psychological dissonance between workers disliking all aspects of their jobs and saying, “Actually? This is fine.” Perhaps inflation or economic insecurity means that a job that pays the bills (and offers little else) is enough for many Americans right now. Or, perhaps asking to give a 1-5 rating for overall satisfaction as the final question on a 27-part job survey skews results by the pure relief of completion.