Jessica Holzer of the Chronicle‘s D.C. bureau seems a little puzzled today:
President Bush will receive an upbeat report on the economy when he meets with his economic advisers at his Crawford ranch today. His challenge will be to sell the good economic news to the public.
Recent polls show people have turned gloomy on the economy despite nine consecutive quarters of solid growth, tame inflation and an unemployment rate that is near its four-year low.
[snip]
In July, nonfarm payrolls grew by 207,000, the biggest jump in three months, and wages, adjusted for inflation, rose at the fastest pace in a year.
Yet approval of Bush’s handling of the economy fell to 39 percent last month, down from 47 percent in January, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll.
Despite the impressive economic numbers, virtually the rest of the column — 500+ words! — is devoted to criticism of the same robust economy.
That sort of “reporting” could help explain the lagging approval numbers.
