Go Figure

   College enrollment dropped last year by nearly half a million, the Census Bureau said, the second year in a row for a drop of this magnitude. Added together, some 930,000 students failed to move to higher education, larger than any college enrollment drop since before the Great Recession.
   Meanwhile, another Census Bureau report said sales of single-family houses jumped by 18 percent in August, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,000.
   And yet another Census report noted declines in tax revenues. Individual income tax revenue fell by nearly 6 percent in the second quarter, while corporate income tax dropped by 3 percent. The same report said sales tax revenue rose 5.6 percent.
   Also, income and poverty levels were basically unchanged last year from the year before, still another Census report said.

   No wonder so many people are confused. Is the economy getting better, or not?
   It would seem that getting a job has a priority, since college enrollment faded. And buying a house is also a priority, since interest rates are relatively low and prices are likely to go up.
   But if income levels are steady and tax revenues are going down, that could mean ... 
   Who knows what?

   Go figure.