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On Friday, the Labor Department reported the unemployment rate dropped to 5.8%, the lowest level since July 2008; then why are Americans still gloomy about the economy?

The main reason is that most Americans have not felt the economy improve for themselves or their families.  No matter how Washington tries to spin the improving economy, the perception most Americans have it’s only getting better for the top echelon of society.

The Brookings Institute, a progressive leaning think tank in Washington D.C. reported exit polls this week found that 35% of voters say the economy is getting better, 31% say it is getting worse, and 33% say it’s about the same, which for most is not a good thing. A late October Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 64% “somewhat” or “very” dissatisfied with the state of the economy, and 36% “somewhat” or “very” satisfied. That’s the same reading as in June 2013, when the economy was, by most measures, weaker.

Brookings continued to report the economy is better but still far from great. Friday’s jobs report counted more than 7 million people who worked part time in October because they couldn’t find full-time work. That figure is down by 1 million over the past year but still 2 million above pre-recession levels. Among men ages 25 to 54, the prime working ages, one in six (16.1%) wasn’t working in October; some were looking for work, but some were “retired” or “disabled.”

The other aspect of pessimism by Americans is the stagnation of wages and income, as wages have been stagnant for many years, and have barley improved in this recovery.   Far too often Americans are not seeing improvement in their own lives let alone for the next generation.

Exit polls had found voters expecting life for the next generation will be worse off than the current generation, hardly a reason to be optimistic.

Almost all segments of the U.S. population are still feeling the ramifications of the recession of 2008-09, still six years later the effects still linger.

Just ask the millennial generation, who are now graduating with enormous student loan debt and facing a dismal future, then compounding the indignity of having to move back in with their parents.  This is definitely not what they had envisioned when entering college.

Many families have to make choices they otherwise never thought of having to make; now you can see why many Americans are pessimistic about the economy.

The situation will only begin  to look gloomier for Americans as next week on November 15th the open enrollment period begins to sign up for the federal mandated health care website.

Many Americans will see their premiums and deductibles rise, then beginning next year the employer mandate will begin, and with it the uncertain prospects of potential job losses and hourly rate reductions to meet compliance.

Should anyone wonder why Americans are pessimistic about the future!