It's time to talk about our feelings, economically speaking.

From Marketplace, I'm Sabrie Benashore in for David Brancaccio.

So later this morning we will get the University of Michigan's final sentiment report for April,

which translated into non-boring English means we're going to hear how everyone's feeling about the economy.

Back in 2022, we were feeling pretty terrible actually like the most

terrible in decades mostly because inflation was the highest in decades. The past few months

we've been feeling better, more optimistic about the

economy, but better doesn't mean good. We're still kind of meh and definitely not as

good as we felt in the decade before the pandemic.

Marketplace as Mitchell Hartman has more from the Consumer Mood Ring Department.

Taken in aggregate,

Overall the consumer seems to be in decent shape.

But Kayla Bruin at Polling Firm Morning Consult says drill down and you find big differences.

The higher income group, they're more likely to have a larger savings buffer.

So when the inflation surge was really at its worst, they were bothered by it, they were hurt by it, but no one was really broken by it.

And now gains from stock and home ownership keep them spending it up. By contrast, says Broon,

the lower income group, they have been persistently struggling.

They just have such a small buffer in between their income and their expenses each month.

Not a lot of savings.

High interest on credit cards and car loans only makes matters worse.

Chris Jackson at public opinion firm ipsoe says one thing seems to wrinkle everyone.

The availability of affordable housing, a lot of Americans are saying is one of the number one issues.

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