The obvious and not-so-obvious reasons people are unhappy about the economy

Economic sentiment and President Joe Biden’s approval ratings are low despite strong output and employment growth for reasons both obvious and subtle.

The public is gloomy about the state of the economy even though two of the most important measures of economic health are strong — namely, GDP growth has been strong in recent quarters, and the employment rate is high by historical standards.

For example, the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to 61.3 this month. That’s better than it was last year during the worst of the inflationary bout, but still low by historical standards. It’s well lower than it was, for example, when unemployment was as low as it is now, 3.9%, in December 2018.