As this Labor Day holiday approaches, American workers are simultaneously satisfied and uneasy about jobs and the economy.

Americans tend to feel OK about their own employment and economic situation, according to a report from the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. The conservative-leaning think tank cites an August Gallup survey finding that 48 percent of working Americans said they were completely satisfied with their jobs, and another 42 percent somewhat satisfied. Only 9 percent were dissatisfied with their jobs.

The institute report also cites a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, in which 15 percent of Americans described their household’s financial situation as very good, 56 percent fairly good, 20 percent fairly bad, and 8 percent very bad.

But there are chinks in the optimism. Health care is one. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in April found slightly more than seven in 10 Americans worried about having to pay more for their health care or health insurance, according to the Institute study.

Pain at the pump is another cause for anxiety. Gas prices are causing financial hardship for three in four Americans according to Gallup’s July 2008 survey, the institute said. In 2000, only 40 percent of Americans said gas prices were causing them hardship.

And Americans see big problems with U.S. economy overall. A Rockefeller Foundation/Time survey released in July found that 52 percent of Americans believe the American dream is no longer attainable.

It also found that Americans believe the social contract they could once depend on has deteriorated and nearly eight in 10 want a new one.

The pessimism is not surprising given workplace trends over the past few decades. Job security has shrunk amid outsourcing and employers have pushed retirement risk onto workers. And the economic recovery of recent years has not felt great to many Americans.

A study from the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute examined the recession-recovery cycle that started in 2001 and found that for the first time on record, middle-class families are at or near the end of a recovery without ever having regained the ground they lost during the recession that preceded it. The study also said job growth has been slower and unemployment stints longer.

In addition, the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent in July, and payroll employment fell from January through July.

The overall portrait that emerges of America’s workers is one of resilience. But America’s workers are facing strains—which may be hurting productivity. And they’re voicing frustration. American employers are starting to take economic insecurity concerns seriously. But with support for international trade declining and consumer confidence low, are businesses doing enough?