[BureaucratusMaximus]

"I read these articles but try to balance them with what I observe. And what I observe is this: There are still traffic jams going to and from work. There are strips of malls and casual eating joints around where I live and work and they are slammed just about every night. You can't even get a table on a Friday night without an hour wait. And I'm talking places like Longhorns, Olive Garden or Red Lobster, where it will cost over $100 easy to take a family of four to dinner."

There are a quite a few people that I've become aware of that have been living in their house for a couple years, but not paying on their mortgage. I attribute the above to this phenomenon. But I hear ya re: the restaurants...I wonder where all that money is coming from sometimes. There is a Portillos in my area with a drive thru...its ALWAYS packed with cars. I sometimes wonder if they are secretly accepting EBT cards.

[RKBA Democrat]

Official statistics would only encapsulate official employment. Unofficial employment...not so much.

Look at it this way: dear leader has done an awesome job growing the economy. The shadow economy that is.

[EVO X]

But I hear ya re: the restaurants...I wonder where all that money is coming from sometimes

From what I've read and seen the economy still stinks in many areas of the country. However, that doesn't mean all economic activity has stopped in those areas. Let say you live in area where wages have stagnated. People might give up expensive hobbies and activities in order to maintain their regular lifestyle like going out to eat.