Parking Lot Full

A panoramic view of the booming parking lot of Northbrook Court.

          The other day, I found myself weaving around a huge mall parking lot trying to find a place to park. Finally, I spotted the white reverse lights and put on my turn signal. This whole situation had me thinking: Is the economy really that bad? I started looking into consumer spending and its fluctuations. It turns out that "U.S. Consumer Sentiment jump(ed) to a five year high." This was a surprise to many after a significant decline in US unemployment rate. It turns out that consumers "confidence" has increased-- according to Gennadily Goldberg, a strategist at TD securities, "...confidence index hitting the highest levels since September 2008 should remain a positive as consumers continue to become more optimistic." But how does one truly measure "confidence"? Is it fair to say that the reason consumer spending is up is because people are emotionally more stable? Goldberg then commented, "Improved confidence should in turn begin to filter more prominently into consumer spending, thereby helping support the economic recovery."
          On the other hand, while ones state of mind may be positive, some numbers presented by Labor Department estimates in a Forbes article, state that the US GDP has gone down from 1.7% to 1.3%. This is believed to be because of declining consumer spending and business investment. But then, why in the parking lot was I fighting for a space? Could location be a key factor in this that the economy only affects people in certain areas or are people here, too, hurting?