Most of the country thinks the economy is in the ditch. It isn’t. Americans are not happy with the economy. Which is weird, given that it is doing just fine. It’s hard to see what could turn sentiment around. That’s largely because of Fed chair Jerome Powell, who doesn’t want and won’t allow some kind of economic boom — he thinks the economy is running too hot already. The U.S. economy continues to defy the odds. The May employment report, released on Friday morning, marked the 14th straight month that more jobs were created than economists expected. It’s all a far cry from the misery in other countries like the U.K. — with sky-high inflation — or Germany, which is now officially in a recession. By the numbers: The U.S. economy has created more than 4 million new jobs in the past 12 months. GDP continues to grow, and is up more than 5% from its pre-pandemic peak, even after accounting for inflation. The average U.S. employee now makes $33.44 per hour, a raise of more than 17.5% since pre-pandemic. The stock market is up 10% so far this year, and we’re not even halfway done. Americans, however, don’t buy it. They’re broadly happy with their own personal finances, but a majority consistently thinks (erroneously) that we’re in a recession, and just 18% think the national economy is in good shape, per the Fed’s most recent Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. Part of the problem is higher consumer prices. Inflation might be coming down rapidly, but even if it…