Americans are still buying stuff like mad, with retail sales in October once again bounding way above the long-term trendline, even when adjusted for inflation.
The main stock market index got to another all-time high this week and house values in most markets have shot up, too.
Americans have also been quitting their jobs like never before. That might mean they've found a better job or it could be they're not worried enough about money to stick with a job they don't like.
And yet Americans haven't been this sour on the economy in a long time. There's a chance this will be the crabbiest Thanksgiving weekend since just after the Great Recession.
A wise columnist understands that asking worn down and cranky people to please lighten up and show some gratitude isn't likely going to help.
Plus, I'm not really one to talk. One reason these disappointing consumer confidence numbers seem believable is that I haven't been feeling so chipper myself.
The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index has dropped to levels not seen in a decade. The score for current conditions — which measures how consumers feel about the economy right now — wasn't nearly as bad as the score that captured their pessimism about what lies ahead.
The investment strategist and economist Jim Paulsen, from the Leuthold Group in Minneapolis, is one of the financial pros who closely follow these measures. Millions of Americans have enough money to keep spending, which is why retail sales have kept cruising right along, he said last week. But they just don't feel that great.