Stories about levels of employee engagement are often less than inspiring. It’s well known that engagement rates in America are low, and that this lack of engagement comes with a hefty cost—in lost productivity, high turnover rates, and low morale. But there could be good news on the horizon. Gallup reports that the percentage of U.S. workers engaged in their jobs rose from an average of 31.7 percent in January to an average of 32.9 percent in February. This reading is the highest the polling agency has recorded in three years, and stands a full 1.5 percentage points higher than where it was last year. However, Gallup cautions, the recent bump in engagement levels might not be entirely sustainable. The increase in engagement also correlates to an increase in hiring, and it is possible that higher engagement levels can be attributed to the “honeymoon effect.” Newcomers to an organization are more likely to be engaged than tenured employees. However, as the job market becomes more competitive, it is also possible that employers are placing more of an emphasis on engaging and retaining their current workforces than they may have in the recent past.