Here’s why Americans feel the way they do about the economy

If the U.S. economy is so strong, why are so many Americans unhappy with it?

Turns out the pandemic has changed virtually everything about how people think about the economy and the issues that concern them, according to a new report by ABC News exploring that very question.

As the news organization reports in its analysis, the most recent jobs report indicates job growth is steady, unemployment remains low and wages are rising. The gross domestic product, a common measure of the health of the economy, has been growing since the second quarter of 2020. Even inflation, which in 2022 reached the highest levels Americans had seen in decades, has finally been cooling.

Even so, consumer sentiment is pessimistic. In June 2022, ABC News notes, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index reached the lowest level ever recorded since tracking began in 1966—lower even than during the Great Recession of 2008, indicating a gap between how the economy is doing and how Americans feel about it.

The report concludes that dramatic changes over the past four years to specific indicators like personal savings rate, inflation, housing and vehicle sales likely are contributing to the disconnect between the positive economic news and Americans’ continued economic pessimism. ABC News has the full story.