Talk about a glass half-full exaggeration. Check out the spin in this article, Consumer Confidence Near Four Year High. You have to scroll down to the last paragraphs to get the full effect.

In the report, the research group said that those who deem current economic circumstances as “good” moved up to 28.3% of those survey in March, versus 26.4 who said the same thing last month. Those who saw conditions as bad fell to 14.7%, versus 15.4% who held that view in February.

Consumers’ assessment of hiring also gained ground. Survey respondents who say jobs are “plentiful” stood at 28.4%, up from 27.4% the prior month. Respondents who believe jobs are “hard to get” were nearly flat, at 20.7%, from 20.2% in February. Consumers’ jobs outlook also gained ground, although those anticipating a rising income was steady at 18.8% of the survey.

Now I’m not an economics expert or particularly good at math but, when I turn to my calculator and subtract those who thought the economy was “good,” I get 71.7% who must have answered “fair,” “poor” or “bad.” Even if there weren’t that many multiple-choice answers, that leaves 57% who must have said something like “the same” or “I dunno, I’m too busy paying bills to think about it.”

Same with the jobs outlook: I wonder what the other 50.9% had to say about employment prospects. I also ponder exactly what kinds of jobs are “plentiful.”

Now, maybe I’m an idiot and don’t understand how these things are calculated or measured. If so, will someone more knowledgeable please explain how this works?

I don’t know about the rest of you but Hubby and I are barely treading water and he makes a better than average salary.