The Economy Is Great. Why Are Americans in Such a Rotten Mood?

Last week we learned that the economy, far from sliding toward recession as economists had predicted over the past year, has actually picked up steam thanks to indefatigable consumers.

Not only has economic output made up all the ground lost during the pandemic, but it is also above where it would have been had the pandemic never happened, judging by what the Congressional Budget Office projected in early 2020.

The same goes for the job market. The unemployment rate at 3.8% is only marginally above where it stood in January 2020. For a while, low unemployment overstated how healthy the job market was because so many people had left the labor force. But except for those over 64, they have mostly returned. The share of the population ages 15 to 64 with jobs topped its prepandemic peak in August.