Our personal economy is the best it's been since we were partying like it was 1999...
Bottom Line: As I'll often state there are two sides to every story but just one side to facts. As it pertains to the economy the facts are pretty positive and compelling these days. Here's a quick reminder of positive economic trends:
Best economic growth in twelve years
Lowest base unemployment rate in nearly 17 years
Lowest real unemployment rate in 11 years
Best wage growth in about 10 years
Record stock market performance
Record high investment and retirement account balances
That means there's plenty of room for optimism and positive views of the economy for most Americans...and it's showing.
According to Gallup's most recent sampling of us we're feeling the best we've felt about our personal economy in 18 years! Gallup found that only 15% of adults are reporting economic issues currently. That's the lowest since just 13% reported financial woes in 1999. What's more is that it's the 2nd best outcome in the 25 year history of Gallup's polling on this question. By comparison a peak of 86% of Americans reported economic issues in their lives in 2009 at the peak of the Great Recession. We've already seen record sales being reported to the official start of the holiday shopping season and information like this shows that the positive mojo for the holiday shopping season is likely to continue. It's be awhile since we've had an average economy (2005), let alone a good one. All signs suggest that we're finally back to that happy place & we're ready to party like it's 1999 or something like that.