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How’s the economy? It may sound like a straightforward question to answer, especially given all of the economic statistics that are produced by the government, think tanks, and the media. And yet, a consistent theme reported by news outlets throughout the lead-up to the 2024 election, and beyond, has been the gulf between what economists say about the leading economic indicators—mostly positive—and what polling reveals about the public’s views on the economy—mostly negative.

Industry Assistant Professor of Business Economics Wenchen Wang at Illinois Tech’s Stuart School of Business studies labor market institutions and outcomes at the national and state levels, including recent research projects that provide insights into how workers are viewing the economy.

“As a labor economist, I think that the disconnect, or mismatch, between economic indicators and public perception mainly arises from inequality in wages and divergence on employment quality,” says Wang. “Although wage growth is reported at the aggregate level across various income groups, the disparities in how these economic gains are distributed are often overlooked.”

As an example, in on wage disparities among different racial and gender groups in Illinois from 2018 to 2022, Wang found significant, persistent wage gaps between groups, and the data showed that wage increases during that period were disproportionately concentrated among higher-income groups and certain populations.

“These racial and gender wage gaps also widen as we move up the wage distribution” she notes. “As a result, while overall economic indicators may show improvement, the experiences of specific groups can vary widely.”

In she co-authored, Wang examined factors that a sample of workers in Illinois said contributed to increased quality of their employment on top of the traditional objective wage measure, including subjective measures of job availability, job security, job meaningfulness, and a sense of belonging.

“While unemployment rates are low, many of the jobs being created are part-time, low-wage, or precarious, such as those in the gig economy,” Wang says, and that can affect workers’ satisfaction with their jobs. “Although the economy may appear to be booming, individuals may feel they have a job, but it might not be a “good” job—one that provides the stability, benefits, or wages needed to maintain a comfortable standard of living or build long-term security.”