Economic Sentiment is Split

By Barry Ritholtz

Floyd Norris points out an oddity of the general sentiment: People seem to think the economy is improving — but their personal finacial situation is not:

“AMERICANS are becoming more optimistic about the prospects for the economy, but are still concerned about their own financial situation.
For the first time in six years, at least half of Americans questioned for the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index said they believed that business conditions had improved over the previous year, according to the preliminary results from the February survey.”

Optimism for the Economy, Less for Themselves
click for ginormous chart

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Source:
Many Americans See Economy Improving, but Not for Them
FLOYD NORRIS
NYT, February 18, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/business/economy/19charts.html

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