As the job market shows hints of improving, some folks who quit looking for work will consider dipping their toes back in. Is it a good time to look for a job? Poll results from Gallup reveal that 20 percent of people overall think it’s a good time to find a quality job. But how does it compare to where we have been?

“Not good,” says Frank Newport, editor-in-chief at Gallup. “We started in 2001 and it reached its peak in 2007, when about half, 48 percent of Americans said that yes, it was a good time to find a quality job.”

Newport says it’s important to word the question — with the word quality — “because a lot of people say, ‘I could got a fast-food emporium and get a job, but the real key is I think quality job and we like that wording.”

Galllup research finds that 29 percent of young people believe it’s a good time to find a quality job. They are most positive than their elders. Newport says that positivity is in part due to politics.

“Democrats are more positive about it being a good time to find a quality job than Republicans. Young people tend to be Democratic,” he says. “It may politics that’s affecting their view of the job market rather than the reality.”