We have had a phony recovery. Electricity consumption proves it. It has been flat for 8 years after decades of nearly uninterrupted growth.
My indication of the (non) recovery is the traffic. During the Bush years, whenever I would get near a certain freeway exit, traffic would start slowing down, so that by the time I reached the exit, I would be going maybe 35-40 MPH. The 70/270 split feeding traffic into Baltimore and DC was a few miles later, and what I saw every day was the traffic backed up before the split.
I moved from that area, and returned a few years earlier during Obama’s presidency. I made the same commute at the same time every day. However, the traffic was almost never backed up just before my exit. And on the occasions when I would have to go to DC, the traffic backups didn’t start occurring until a few miles AFTER the split.
Not as much traffic=not as many people commuting=not as many working.