Worker Pessimism Is Part of the US Economy Now: Conor Sen

American workers are in a pessimistic mood. Who can blame them? A gradually cooling labor market and persistent affordability challenges make too many feel like it’s impossible to get ahead. And unlike our experience of the past 25 years, a job market boost alone wouldn’t necessarily be enough. In housing and other areas, workers need greater supply and lower prices, which simply adding more jobs won’t achieve.

The still low unemployment rate fails to capture worker pessimism. People’s feelings about the job market hinge on their experience of it and how that shapes their expectations of the future. On that basis, there’s ...