“Can the U.S. economy be doing all that well if ‘Kidney’ is a common autofill?”

Two things can be true: the economy is getting better and things are incredibly hard for some people. The social safety net has holes in it large enough for entire families to fall through.

An article from Forbes' staffer Maggie McGrath about non-traditional measures of economic well-being includes this sobering statistic.

Data from Google’s search autofill — which updates the most likely completion of often-searched-for phrases, like “near me” or “that deliver” for the phrase “pizza places” — supports the food stamp data and the hunch that Americans are still feeling the ill effects of the recession. ConvergEx found that the phrase “I want to sell” autofills with “my car,” “my house,” and most concerning, “my kidney.” The word kidney has cracked the top three autofill results every quarter since the fourth quarter of 2013.

“Can the U.S. economy be doing all that well if ‘Kidney’ is a common autofill?” Colas asks.