HONOLULU (KHON2) -- As the new year is kicking off and we're all scrambling to make and keep our resolutions, something you may want to consider is upping your reading, mathematics and problem-solving skills. The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is a study that looks at the skills and abilities of adults in the United States and other countries. It focuses on literacy, numeracy and problem-solving. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You The data that is collected helps industry leaders make decisions about things such as workforce training and economic development. This means, they want an accurate accounting for Americans' reading, mathematics and problem-solving skills in order to maintain a healthy and engaged workforce. The most recent PIAAC data collection took place in the U.S. between August 2022 and June 2023, and the results are a bit depressing. For this study, PIAAC compared their results with results from 2012, 2014 and 2017. This report looks at adults aged 16 to 65 and provides information based on factors like gender, age, education, race and health. It also presents results for new areas, like adaptive problem solving, for the first time. Between 2017 and 2023, the skills of U.S. adults in literacy and numeracy dropped. The average literacy score decreased from 271 in 2017 to 258 in 2023. For numeracy, the score dropped from 259 in 2017 to 247 in 2023. These changes show that adults are struggling more with reading, writing and math tasks compared to previous years. One major concern is that the percentage of adults performing at the lowest skill levels increased. In literacy, the number of people at the lowest level grew from 19% in 2017 to 28% in 2023. In numeracy, the percentage at the lowest level went up from 29% to 34%. This means more adults are having trouble with basic skills like reading simple texts or solving basic math problems. Additionally, 32% of adults struggled with adaptive problem-solving skills in 2023, a new area tested in this survey. These numbers are showing us that nearly a third of our total population cannot proficiently read, write or do mathematics at a 6th grade level. While the number of adults with lower skills is rising, the percentage of people with high scores (Level 3 or above) has remained relatively stable in literacy (44%) and numeracy (38%) in 2023. However, the overall trend shows that many adults are not improving their skills, which could be a problem for future job opportunities. As technology and the job market change, workers need better skills to compete. The decline in these skills means that fewer people are ready for high-demand jobs in areas like technology, healthcare and finance, which require strong problem-solving and technical skills and are slated to be the careers of the future. Another part of the survey looked at how men and women were doing. Both males and females showed a decrease in their average scores between 2017 and 2023. Males scored lower in both literacy (257) and numeracy (253), while females had scores of 260 in literacy and 245 in numeracy. In 2023, males performed slightly better than females in numeracy, but there was no significant difference in literacy or problem-solving scores. These findings highlight the need for improvement in the education and training systems to help adults develop better literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills. You can click here to learn more about the study. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHON's morning podcast, every morning at 8 If these skills are not improved, many adults might struggle to find good jobs or advance in their careers, making it harder for the economy to grow and for workers to thrive in the future.