87% say US still in Recession, 51% expect Recovery after 2010

NEW YORK, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As 2009 comes to a close, the majority of Americans are filled with significant uncertainty and anxiety about the state of the US economy - and its prospects for a quick recovery in the New Year.

Of the 1,000 Americans surveyed by telephone over the weekend by polling firm StrategyOne, nearly 9 in 10 Americans (87%) believe the US is still in a recession and 3 in 4 (78%) disagree with economic experts that the US is no longer in a recession.

Despite increasingly positive talk from experts about the health of economy, just 1 in 4 (26%) believe the economy will recover fully by the end of 2010. Instead, the majority of Americans - 51% - believe the economy won't fully recover and be back on track until sometime until the end of 2011 - or even 2012. A frighteningly high 15% believe the economy will never fully recover.

"Consumers appear more likely to believe the economy has stabilized compared to the summer, but see a pretty long road to full economic recovery," said Bradley Honan, Senior Vice President of StrategyOne, who authored the survey. "15% of US consumers believing a full recovery won't ever take place speaks to how deeply scarred America has been left by the recession - and how the hangover is likely to last well beyond the 'official' end of the recession."

The StrategyOne survey also found that slightly more people believe that the economy is on the wrong track (48%) than on the right track (44%), and most Americans believe the economy has either "not yet bottomed out and will get worse" (34%) or that "it's at the bottom and not getting better or worse" (19%).

That's not to say that opinions are not shifting more positively though, indeed they are. For example, Americans are not nearly as negative about the state of the economy as they were in July.

Today 42% say the economy has "bottomed out and is getting better" compared with just 30% who felt that way in July of this year. The current StrategyOne survey found that the youngest consumers polled, those 18-34 years of age, were most likely (50%) to believe the economy has already "bottomed out and is getting better" compared with just 38% of those 55 years and older, who feel the same way. There is clearly a significant generational gap about perceptions of the economy today.

"It's clear some of the positive discussion about the economic recovery has broken through - but there is still much, much more consumers need to hear to regain their confidence in the direction of our economy," said Bradley Honan of StrategyOne.

Survey Methodology:

StrategyOne conducted 1,000 telephone interviews among a representative sampling of Americans between December 16 and 20, 2009. The overall margin of sampling error at the 95% level of confidence is = +/- 3.1% overall and larger for subgroups. Statistical weights were designed from the United States Census Bureau statistics.

About StrategyOne:

With offices in Atlanta, Chicago, London, New York, Paris, San Mateo, and Washington, D.C., StrategyOne, a Daniel J. Edelman company, employs custom public opinion research and secondary research methodologies to deliver strategic counsel to corporate, organizational and governmental clients globally. Visit www.strategyone.net for more information.

Full Question Texts & Survey Data:

Question text: The United States economy is today moving on the....

    Answer                                       Dec. 2009
    ------                                       ---------
    Right track                                          44%
    -----------                                         ---
    Wrong track                                          48%
    -----------                                         ---
    Don't know (Volunteered Answer Choice)                8%
    --------------------------------------              ---

Question text: Now thinking about the nation's economy, do you believe the economy...

    Answer                          July 2009    Nov. 2009    Dec. 2009
    ------                          ---------    ---------    ---------
    Has already bottomed out and is
     GETTING BETTER                          28%          30%          42%
    -------------------------------         ---          ---          ---
    Is at bottom and NOT getting
     BETTER OR WORSE                         21%          18%          19%
    ----------------------------            ---          ---          ---
    Or, has not yet bottomed out
     and WILL GET WORSE                      49%          45%          34%
    ----------------------------            ---          ---          ---
    Don't know (Volunteered Answer
     Choice)                                  2%           7%           5%
    ------------------------------          ---          ---          ---

Question text: Is the United States currently in a recession?

    Answer                                       Dec. 2009
    ------                                       ---------
    Yes                                                   87%
    ---                                                  ---
    No                                                    12%
    ---                                                  ---
    Don't know (Volunteered Answer Choice)                 1%
    --------------------------------------               ---

Question text: Some economic experts say that technically the United States has finally

gotten out of the current recession. Do you agree or disagree with these experts that the United States is no longer in a recession?

    Answer                                       Dec. 2009
    ------                                       ---------
    Yes (Agree)                                           20%
    -----------                                          ---
    No (Disagree)                                         78%
    -------------                                        ---
    Don't know (Volunteered Answer Choice)                 2%
    --------------------------------------               ---

Question text: When do you expect that the economy will be fully recovered by?

    Answer                                       Dec. 2009
    ------                                       ---------
    It is already fully recovered                          1%
    -----------------------------                        ---
    Midway through 2010                                    8%
    -------------------                                  ---
    By the end of 2010                                    18%
    ------------------                                   ---
    By the end of 2011                                    19%
    ------------------                                   ---
    After the end of 2011                                 32%
    ---------------------                                ---
    It won't ever fully recover                           15%
    ---------------------------                          ---
    Don't know (Volunteered Answer Choice)                 7%
    --------------------------------------               ---

SOURCE StrategyOne

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