Why Americans are pessimistic about economy

 

At first glance, today’s report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that job openings rose 2.6 percent in December from a month earlier could be seen as a positive sign for the labor market, especially considering that official jobless totals have declined for three straight months (through January).

Since the downturn began, however, the ranks of the unemployed have swelled at a far faster pace than the number of job openings. Back in December 2007, for example, there were 1.8 unemployed workers per opening; at the end of last year, the ratio was 6.1, a jump of nearly 240 percent.

This dramatic divergence suggests two things: not only are people worried about losing their jobs, they are also concerned that they will have a much harder time finding a new one than before. Given how important a paycheck is to most Americans, no wonder so many remain pessimistic about the outlook.