Wall Street is booming, but most Americans still feel like the economy is in a recession

Wall Street just wrapped a record-smashing ￰0￱ are riding high, and corporate earnings are beating ￰1￱ company tied to anything remotely related to AI is swimming in ￰2￱ are hiking price targets almost every other ￰3￱ rates, while still high, are ￰4￱ if you talk to anyone on Main Street, it doesn’t feel like a recovery, it feels like a ￰5￱ to Semafor , Liz Hoffman called it a “vibe-spansion.” She said during Joe Biden’s presidency, people felt worse than the numbers showed a “vibecession.” Now, under Donald Trump, businesses are charging forward with confidence while households are dragging ￰6￱ are ￰7￱ are ￰8￱ job market is starting to weaken, inflation is stuck, and purchasing power hasn’t caught ￰9￱ pushes tariffs while sentiment tanks The market exploded after Trump returned to office last ￰10￱ rally was fueled by hope, especially from voters who believed he could steer the ￰11￱ University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index shot up with the S&P.

But then February ￰12￱ began pushing his “Liberation Day” tariff plans again, and sentiment ￰13￱ April and May, that same index dropped to 52.2, a number not seen since inflation peaked in ￰14￱ Friday, sentiment was back at that low ￰15￱ aren’t buying into the optimism on ￰16￱ Finance’s Emma Ockerman reported that 65% of Americans now think unemployment will rise in the next 12 ￰17￱ last time that many people felt this uncertain was during the Great Recession. A separate study said most people don’t think they’ll be able to get another job if they lose the one they have. Trump’s trade policies are still on everyone’s ￰18￱ Hsu from the University of Michigan said 60% of those interviewed mentioned tariffs ￰19￱ isn’t just noise from financial ￰20￱ feel the hit now, not ￰21￱ Street may price in the future, but households live in the ￰22￱ that, Trump is still calling it the “best economy we’ve ever had.” He told Fox & Friends on Friday that trillions in promised corporate investments and surging markets prove his policies are ￰23￱ the scenes, White House aides admit the message isn’t ￰24￱ prices are still ￰25￱ haven’t caught up to ￰26￱ pain from Biden’s cost-of-living spike is still in the ￰27￱ House leans on tax cuts to change the conversation Republicans avoided a tax increase earlier this year through Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, but the Congressional Budget Office says it’ll have little effect before the 2028 ￰28￱ impact, they say, is dulled by Trump’s tariffs and immigration ￰29￱ Moore, one of Trump’s outside economic advisers, said, “There’s a reality and there’s a perception.” He told reporters from the Oval Office that people are worried about food prices and day-to-day expenses, even if the numbers look fine.

Meanwhile, real wages (adjusted for inflation) are climbing but still not back to pre-Biden ￰30￱ Department data shows increases since early 2023, but the White House doesn’t expect a full recovery by Election ￰31￱ White House is now rebranding the tax bill as the “Working Families Tax Cut.” They’re banking on multiple rate cuts and rising wages to help Americans “feel” the ￰32￱ pollster John McLaughlin said: “It’s going to take some time, but as those policies percolate, it’ll be a sense of relief compared to what the last four years were like.” Trump’s team is also looking at other ￰33￱ the Supreme Court kills the tariffs, aides believe businesses will benefit from the billions in duties ￰34￱ the court upholds them, they say the worst is over and future deficit cuts will cheer ￰35￱ White House is watching voter sentiment ￰36￱ current gap between Americans who think the country is on the right track versus the wrong track is 15 ￰37￱ Biden’s 2022 midterm cycle, that number was 31 ￰38￱ are gaining voter registrations, while Democrats are still deep in the red; 27 points underwater compared to 13 for the ￰39￱ Bybit now and claim a $50 bonus in minutes