Perplexing labor market views

Americans are as pessimistic about the overall job market as they have been since the depths of the pandemic. But they think they, personally, will be just fine. The big picture: That it the perplexing combination of views displayed in the New York Fed's latest Survey of Consumer Expectations, which matches other survey-based evidence that Americans are doing well individually but are deeply negative about the overall economic outlook. By the numbers: Survey respondents put average odds that the unemployment rate will be higher a year from now at 44.4% in August, the highest since April 2020 and up 1.6 percentage point from July. State of play: Labor market data has firmed up so far this year, with the unemployment at 4.1% the last two months after ending last year at 4.4%. That firming is reflected in peoples' perceptions of their personal job prospects, but not in their macro views. Zoom in: This curious mix of views aligns with other public opinion data. Between the lines: Survey responses about economic questions increasingly seem to bring sour responses that reflect broadly negative attitudes about the direction of the world. Get the rundown of the biggest stories of the day with Axios Daily Essentials.