Washington (CNN) – Economic fears are not diminishing. More than eight in 10 Americans think the economy is in another recession, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. One-third of those surveyed think it’s serious.
While the country isn’t technically in a recession because the economy hasn’t experienced two straight quarters of negative growth, the poll’s results highlight the importance of President Barack Obama’s jobs speech next Thursday night.
Full results (pdf)
Americans have “a bad case of economic jitters,” according to CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
About two-thirds think the president should focus more on creating jobs right now, even if it means less deficit reduction.
Don’t expect Republicans to stop demanding more budget cuts though. Almost half of GOPers surveyed say deficit reduction is just as important as creating more jobs, including those who identify themselves as tea party supporters.
Democrats strongly disagree. Eighty-three percent want the president to focus more on job growth, and two-thirds of independents say the same.
This could hint at the president’s economic plan as he campaigns for re-election. With only 34% of Americans approving of the way he is handling the economy, according to a CNN/ORC Poll released earlier this week, job creation could help the president solidify his party’s eroding support, while bringing in key independent voters.
The CNN/ORC International Poll was conducted August 24-25, with 1,017 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
From CNN Politics
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Well, we certainly are in the third summer of recovery...
The SAME 8 in 10 may not have thought we were OUT of a recession. Do 8 in 10 even know what a recession is???
I don't think budget cuts are really going to help the economy right now. It sounds like that someone spending money would be good. It may be that the federal govermnemt might be that only one. I know that many companies are unwilling to spend the cash they have for many reasons.
Of course the economy is not getting better the greatest liar spender polarize is still in the people's house until 2012 when the lying lawyer gets sent packin back to the most corrupt district in the nation Chicago....failure economically failure socially, failure schools and failure union thugs running things........gee what a surprise.
welll if happen back to 1929 depression. u better get used to it how to deal living than dream can be over. keeps survivor focus urslef than drowned ...... same with me
Well, here we go again. Another bumpy ride.
I blame the GOP. If they worked with Obama then perhaps the country would be doing better. They ran on jobs and haven't produced any jobs bill since being elected.
And 8 in 10 (at least) Americans tend to vote with their pocketbook. Doesn't look promising for a second term.
They think we are? But I see Outback, Walmart parking lots are full. New car sales are up 25%, boat sales are up 20%, motorcycle sales are up 28%. These are real necessities of life. People have no clue. Spend, spend, spend.
Americans are fat and lazy.
Ya think?...we never left the last one.
This is still President GWB fault. Maybe we were in a Depression thinking we were in a recession. This President needs time.
Of those 80%, do they really understand what a recession is? I'm seeing lately that a lot of folks are mouthing off, but are basically empty megaphones and pollsters.
That's why they have economic metrics, so that can define a recession. What eight in ten Americans think is relevant only to the way they act, not a reflection of the actual circumstances.
It also should be noted that at least 8 in 10 people are idiots that don't truly know the topics they are surveyed on.
Make it 9
Just goes to show you that "The Big Lie" technique works for rethuglicans. Car sales are up. Unemployment numbers are slowly trending positive. But, the sky is falling according to the clown show. It took 10 years to begin coming out of the Great Depression. What kind of idiot thinks we can come out of something nearly as bad in 2?
There ain't no spending our way out of this depression no matter what the uninformed public think because...we have never, ever, in our entire history been so deeply in debt that just going further into debt will cause a recession on its own when the interest alone approaches the level of our GDP and swallows up all our revenue.
Sorry, charlie...we've had our chances. Now's the time to pay the piper.
Didn't the Rs campaign on JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! in 2010? What have they done about jobs since then? If they fail to work with the president and Ds EFFECTIVELY to create jobs, I won't be voting for them in 2012. In fact it may spur me to actively volunteer against them. Anti Tea Party anyone?
We are in a recession, more or less a slump. The Government states that they are going work really hard to create jobs. I see more jobs going over to China, India, and other third world countries. We all talk about how we are going to create green energy and it is going to be the wave of the future, but really what it comes down to, it is just hype. As American’s we really need to start grabbing the bull by the horns and start thinking about what the hell we are doing. Something is definitely wrong with the picture we are in and we need to do something about it. Do we have corporate greed going on in this country- you bet you’re behind we do. CEO’s listen up! You see your company in trouble-instead of taking that big fat bonus, and laying people off, take a pay cut for once and keep your employee’s onboard and figure out what you are doing wrong, and why your company is in such trouble.
That's because despite the definition of the term it is synonymous with bad economic conditions in the minds of most Americans. I frequently hear the term bing misused but have come to realize that the strict definition is meaningless.
Spend another 800billion to create more jobs. GREAT idea. It worked last time. Face it DEMONCRATES your style doesn't work. Unemployment payouts do not create jobs in America.
I think we are going in the tank until our socialist media loses all influence.
9.2% unemployment and 46 million Americans on food stamps...who are the 20% of respondents (inverse of 8 of 10) that are that clueless about the reality of our economy...the entire elected federal govt needs to be thrown out at elections to get some new people serious about turning the economy around...time for Obama to figure out what real leadership means.
Of course they do, the media makes sure to let everyone know the sky is falling. The American economy is doing pretty good after such a harsh recession, and we will rebuild stronger than we were before. We have a few problems, but its nothing we can't fix and we are FAR from being in danger. The problem is the media sensationalizes everything. Oh, and the wall street people panic over every fart a CEO makes.
8 out of 10 Americans have no ability to evaluate whether we're in a recession or not. They're simply regurgitating what they're told 24/7/365. I'm not impressed.
If I were polled, I would have said that we were out of recession in the of 2009. But now that the House is controlled by TEApublicans, I'm more inclined to think that we're going back into recession. There agaenda is to tank the economy, and thats what they're doing. Wall St. has no confidence in Congress.
Yes job creation ...the only way it will work though is if the House majority is not republican. Or get some in there who lead with common sense and open minds. Fact....to stimulate job growth money must be spent. Pay down the deficit later when times are good. I fear though that the cuts for every amount spent is going to do more damage in the long run.
8 in 10 think we're in a recession??? Oh tell me it ain't so... We have Hope & Change and Win the Future on the teleprompter!!!
Calling this a "Recession" rather than a "Depression" depends on whether you're an average Joe, living and working on Main Street, or a Wall Street banker, who looted this country and deserves to be tried for treason. Tough times for Average Joe, good times for Wall Street. Thanks, Washington, for negotiating the deal.
Headline should read: 8 in 10 Americans have no idea what a recession is.
We're in a rationalization. Struggling is the way of life and always been that way. Kids still walking around with iPhones and I see people driving new cars more than ever. I still see parents paying for their grown 'kids' in college, which is a pretty modern thing for the working class and I still see them buying them cars too. We're far far from being bad off. This is just bringing things back to reality. When I was a kid in the 80s I didn't even have a TV in my room, let alone a mobile broadband device and a flat screen. Give me a break "broke" America.
I am sorry, but I hate when people use the word Recession with two quarters of negative growth. if we have negative growth it is called a depression, recession would be if we were coming out of it. I really cannot stand, the misuse of words. Common sense, positive growth recession, negative depression. Come on people be honest!
"More than eight in 10 Americans think the economy is in another recession"
This one American thinks the economy cannot possibly be in "another" recession because it never grew out of the Great Recession.
It seems as thought the teabaggers and republicans got it wrong. The debt reductions they demanded and taking us to the brink of disaster by not raising the debt ceiling (which was the needed legislation in the first place, not budget reductions) is now causing much damage to our economy which is causing damage to the jobs situation. As I predicted cuts in spending will cause catastrophic damage to the economy and to the debt which includes jobs losses. The best help for the debt and for the budget is to put people back to work. They would have less spending and more income as a result and it would improve the budget/debt problem. The teabaggers and republicans do NOT care about you or anything as long as they get theirs and they do not have to share. They just do NOT care if you have income or not, or if you can feed your self or not or just starve as long as they do not have to pay any of their funds to help you in any way. Way to go christian right. I guess the bible does not tell you that you ARE your brothers keeper. Oh I guess you can cherry pick from the bible as long as it is in your benefit only. Just remember 2012 is around the corner. Plan on being UNEMPLOYED if you are a teabagger or republican.
Think? I didn't know we ever got out of 2008's recession.
Americans should be concerned. The GOBP is bent on destroying the economy through obstructionism and its slavish devotion to its failed cult principles like deregulation and tax cuts for the ultrarich non-"job creators". When a group cares more for the greedy than the needy, that is a disaster for America.
8 out of 10 know we're in a recession ..... and headed for a depression.
I don't think most THINK we're heading into "another" recession: they KNOW we never really climbed out of the 2007 one!
For 80% of the population we ARE in a rut, recession or what have you. I don't care what some scumbag speculator calls it. I fail to understand how stealing a candy bar can land you a trip to the county jail, but playing the stock market like its Vegas lands you a million dollar home. I am really starting to doubt this market crap.
What is a "jobs bill?" How does the government create jobs? Obviously, the trillions of dollars (that we didn't have) that we have already spent weren't quite enough to create any jobs. How much more do we have to spend?
How about, instead of spending more money to reward the President's political contributors, we take the boot of government regulation and taxation off of the neck of our nation's job creators and let THEM create jobs? They do it for free.
The other 2 are making > $250k/yr and get a tax break. No recession for them.
well thats a no brainer we have been since 08 we never came out! news media and Washington are clueless
"While the country isn’t technically in a recession because the economy hasn’t experienced two straight quarters of negative growth..." Maybe not technically, but when everyone is broke and on food stamps who cares about technicalities? This situation should be treated as an emergency and it is being treated as business as usual. Not what we deserve from our government.
It is times like these where our country should realize that the outsourcing of jobs has its limits. When a recession hits and we expect jobs to help in the recovery, we should not be surprised when it is difficult to create jobs. Outsourcing labor-intensive jobs is one thing but when service-related jobs are outsourced as well, what kind of jobs should one expect to create that will help the economy? Jobs at a fast-food restaurant where workers are paid minimum wage? Yes, that kind of earning power will really help get the economy going, especially when fuel and food prices are currently rising. In situations like these, those minimum wage jobs only help people to work to survive but not have anything to spend towards education. In a country that ranks lower to third-world countries in certain areas of education, creating a situation where the population does not have enough to invest in education is not a good idea. Overall, the current economic recession (and, yes, I believe that we are in a recession) will be difficult to overcome since the jobs we really need to help our recovery have been outsourced, the jobs left here only help a good portion of the population to barely earn enough to survive, and a good portion of the population will not have any money to invest in education, thus keeping that part of the population earning that minimum wage that allows them to earn only enough to survive. A vicious cycle indeed. What does this mean for this country? Weak recoveries and an ever-growing population of minimum wage earners. For the wealthy, this is a blessing since the very group of people they prey on will be growing. For the those of us that are not wealthy, well...
Until someone handles thetrade defIcit we will never have jobs that count again. Note jobs equal national security
We need to focus on not sacraficing our liberties for economic stability and work towards a sound monetary policy. We are in a recession and much closer to depression, I hope the 2 out of 10 see it that way as well.
... and I'm sure these 8 out of 10 Americans can't even define a "recession" ... all they know is that they're not getting as many freebies from taxpayers as they once did.
Probably have a college degree AT BEST. Outdated skills and no work ethic. Coddled from infancy. They're deadbeats. Same group that says they can't understand mortgage terms. Probably carry a credit card balance from month-to-month. But they get that cup of Joe from Starbucks every morning. Get them out of the gene pool!
since my boss had to lay off all but 1 worker from 27 at one time, I would say Yup,possibly a depression soon! We are a small engine rebuilding machine shop near Philadelphia. The "cash for Clunkers" program killed our industry.The local taxes of $3k per MONTH for school and property doesn't help thing much either. The Huge Bailout to GM and Chrysler didn't help us either, they are our main competitor(GM) for "crate engines",our main seller. Kinda like robin hood in reverse. My poor boss has not collected a pay check in 2 years and works 14 hour days, plus Saturday and sometimes Sunday.Nafta didnt help us much(the American worker). maybe someone in the Government will Help undo the damage that they did to the country, then again maybe Santa Clause will bring me a new Corvette this xmas.