WASHINGTON — If you believe the political discussion, from left and right, the American economy is in dreadful shape, beset by rampant joblessness and too much debt.

Actually, the economy has been steadily, if too slowly, improving.

Unemployment is down to 5.3 percent from 10 percent in President Obama’s first year in office. Gross domestic product is expanding at a clip of 2.5 percent, a modest pace but growth nonetheless. The federal deficit is estimated at $486 billion this year, or about a third of what it was in 2009. Despite all the complaints about the Affordable Care Act, 15 million more Americans are covered than two years ago.

Why all the negative rhetoric? Persistent systemic problems have kept wage growth stagnant for a long time. The recovery has been very top heavy.

The economy invariably becomes a political target when there is no White House incumbent running for re-election. The opposition party has to talk about how bad things are and its ideas for change. The incumbent party, in this case the Democrats, must be more nuanced, striving to avoid getting tarred as defenders of the status quo.