Quote from morganist:
how can they spend if they don't have money. how can they get money if they don't have jobs.
You act as if the majority of Americans are unemployed.
That obviously is not the case.
There are plenty of Americans that continue to be EMPLOYED. They are paying down debt, increasing their savings rate, are being cautious with their spending, but continue to work and receive a paycheck!
Should their confidence in the Economy improve, they will increase their spending habits.
Since 2/3'd of the nation's GDP is tied to consumer spending, confidence and PSYCHOLOGY play a most important factor.
You act as if the Economy cannot even begin to recover without the unemployment rate dropping back down. That's simply NOT true.