Feeling grumpy? Smattering of signs suggests national angst bottoming out

CLIFTON, N.J. — Friday night in northern New Jersey, circa April 2009, offers clues to prove any theory about the American economic meltdown, depending on what you want to believe. Just like so many places these days.

Craving optimism? Watch the tour bus emptying into the La Quinta lobby off Route 3, its occupants abuzz about their weekend sightseeing jaunt into Manhattan. Or see the hungry diners spilling out the door of Carino's Italian Grill in the Clifton Commons shopping center — a line of customers waiting to put their money into the consumer economy.

Want some economic angst? That's easy, too. Drive straight up Bloomfield Avenue into Glen Ridge, Montclair and Verona. Gaze at the empty Volvo and Jaguar dealerships and the deserted bank. Contemplate the thinned-out blocks of storefronts, defunct restaurants, abandoned shops and "For Lease" signs in one of the region's more affluent areas.

More doom on the horizon? Or will happy days soon be here again? Take your pick. The confusion is enough to play havoc on a person's mood — or an entire nation's. "Everybody is looking at it through their own personal lens," says Liza Dawson, a self-employed literary agent from Glen Ridge.

In hard economic times, Americans turn to numbers to see whether things are getting better. Gauging the mood of the republic is not as quantifiable. It is not measured but sampled. Yet the human factor can be crucial. An improving outlook can increase confidence and nudge prosperity along.

In recent days, just as we've seen tantalizing, oh-so-subtle hints the economic distress might be leveling off, a smattering of signs has emerged to suggest the national bad mood of recent months may be — and note we say, quite carefully, MAY be — bottoming out.

Last week, fresh retail sales figures, a key indicator of consumer spending and, thus, the American mood, suggested that while people are still holding their cash close to their chest, their sour stomach might be stabilizing a bit — getting "less worse," in effect.

Numbers from Gallup's Consumer Mood Index were up 6 points for the week ending April 5, the fourth consecutive week they rose. The index is now as high as it's been in over a year — buoyed, perhaps, by the upward-creeping stock market. And an AP-GfK poll showed the number of Americans who think the country is heading in the right direction more than doubled between October and February — to 40 percent.

Not that it's all good, mind you. Just, well, less worse.