Metro Atlantans are still optimistic about the economy — less so than last year — and more likely to say they’re spending more on groceries, health care, rent and other bills.

• They’re spending less, however, on entertainment and dining out.

Driving the news: Every six months, McKinsey and Ipsos survey Americans about their perceptions of the economy.

• This time around, sentiment across nearly all metropolitan regions has fallen sharply.

The big picture: The broad optimism that Americans felt about the economy in the spring of 2021 has finally been undone by inflation and health worries that are getting worse, Axios’ Felix Salmon writes.

By the numbers: Metro Atlanta’s economic optimism ranked 105 on a 0-200 scale — that’s eight points lower than the national average and six points lower than it was a year ago, McKinsey/Ipsos say.

• Roughly half of the respondents said they were spending more on groceries and utilities, and about a third said their housing and health care costs had gone up.
• Just under half of the respondents reported being able to cover their household expenses if they or someone in their household lost their job.
• Roughly one-third of respondents said access to transportation, mental and physical health issues, “an inability to share your full self at work” and a hostile work environment were affecting their ability to perform at the workplace.

Between the lines: Overall inflation is bad, Salmon writes, with prices rising 8.3% over the past year. Food and energy prices, however, have shot up much more quickly than that, up 17.4% in April from a year previously. Gasoline prices alone were up 43.6%.

Read the full story.

The frogs have been fished out of the filtration system. The dust has been swept off the lifeguard chair. And the freezers have been filled with popsicles, sweet popsicles.

• Tomorrow, public pools in Atlanta, DeKalb, Gwinnett and other metro cities and counties will open the gates for about three months of swimming, sunning (responsibly) and socializing.
• In Atlanta, admission is free.

Why it matters: Need we remind you how glorious it feels to jump into a cool pool on a sunny, scorching day?

Details: Wills Park in Alpharetta, Murphy Candler Pool in Brookhaven, and Piedmont Park's beloved swimming center offer plenty of activities and top-notch facilities, the AJC notes.

• New this year is Spivey Splash, a water park owned by Clayton County that includes a lazy river, four water slides, and one of two Flowriders in Georgia.

Check your local parks and recreation department for hours, classes and other important information.

Thomas' thought bubble: I'm more of a Slip 'N Slide guy, but I've always been a fan of the Grant Park Pool.

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Memorial Day weekend — the start of the summer travel season — will feature more travelers and higher prices in Georgia.

What's happening: A survey from AAA predicts nearly 1.2 million Georgians will travel 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day weekend. 

The intrigue: Despite record-high gas prices, 90% of Memorial Day travelers plan to travel by car, more than 1.1 million Georgians to be exact.

• That's a nearly 5% increase from last year.

By the numbers: Gas is on average $4.13 per gallon in Georgia. The previous highest average Memorial Day price was $3.91 per gallon in 2008.

Zoom up: According to the AJC, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport expects 2 million passengers this weekend, nearing pre-pandemic levels.

Be smart: INRIX calculated that the worst corridor and time to travel in metro Atlanta was Interstate 85 South, between Clairmont Road and MLK Drive, during yesterday's afternoon rush hour.

• But... best to avoid it again today.

The bottom line: “Coming out of this two-year pandemic, Georgians are eager to travel again, and it doesn’t seem like record-high gas prices or other inflationary pressures will stop them,” said Montrae Waiters, spokesperson for AAA.

The upcoming Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be unusually active, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's hurricane season outlook released this week.

Why it matters: Hurricanes are nature's most destructive storms, and if this forecast proves accurate, this would be the seventh straight year of above-average activity, writes Axios' Andrew Freedman.

The big picture: NOAA is forecasting a 70% chance of 14 to 21 named storms this season. Of these, six to 10 would become hurricanes, and of these, three to six would intensify into major hurricanes of Category 3 or greater.

Context: Georgia last experienced a major hurricane firsthand in 2018 when Hurricane Michael crossed the Florida/Georgia line as a Category 3 storm and caused billions in crop damage to southwest Georgia.

💭 Andrew's thought bubble: Georgia has had significant impacts from other tropical storms and smaller hurricanes too, such as Hurricane Matthew in 2016, which curved along the coast east of Savannah.

• In coastal areas, the threats include high winds and storm surge flooding, which is worsening as sea levels rise.
• In metro Atlanta, hurricane season brings the threat of heavy rains and severe thunderstorms as once-powerful storms that hit the Gulf Coast swirl inland. Inland flooding causes more loss of life each year from tropical storms and hurricanes than any other threat in their arsenal.

Read more. And subscribe to Andrew's Axios Generate newsletter.

⛽️ Atlanta gas stations with the best biscuits, wings and tacos. (Eater)

💰 An Arkansas art museum will work with Spelman College to expand its internship program and increase museum leadership diversity. (Axios Northwest Arkansas)

☀️ Korean solar giant Qcells announces 470 job expansion in Dalton. (Global Atlanta)

🥜 Boiled peanuts: the “caviar of the South." (Atlanta Magazine)

🪖 Nine military bases named after Confederate leaders could soon honor several women and people of color. (Smithsonian Magazine)

🏈 UGA is verrrrry close to inking a "lucrative" contract extension with football coach Kirby Smart. (AJC)