Nearly 3/4 of Americans See Recession

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Saturday March 17 5:13 PM ET Nearly 3/4 of Americans See Recession

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly three-quarters of Americans think a recession is on the way, a significantly higher percentage than three months ago, according to a Newsweek magazine poll issued on Saturday.

Fully 71 percent of adults consider a recession either very likely or somewhat likely within the next year, compared with 54 percent who thought so in December, the poll found.

Economists usually define a recession as two consecutive quarters of contraction in the gross domestic product.

Falling stock prices and uncertainty about the economy's future also appeared to be taking a toll on consumers' spending plans. The poll found that 69 percent of respondents less likely to make a major purchase over the next year.

Forty-three percent said they were less inclined to buy a new home or make major home improvements and 44 percent were less likely to purchase a new car.

The survey was conducted by telephone among 1,004 adults aged 18 and older last Thursday and Friday, as U.S. stock markets were finishing up one of their worst weeks in history.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20010317/bs/economy_poll_dc_1.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 17, 2001

Answers

Friday, CNBC reported very early Friday morning, that the results for the Michigan Consumer Confidence Report was "mistakenly," released early (yeh...right!!!). Supposedly, consumer confidence is way up! I went to CNBC to find the news release but I got too many "Java Script" errors and was unable to locate it. It did not matter what Michigan consumers thought, the stock market still took a nose dive!

-- CAkidd (CAkidd_94520@yahoo.com), March 17, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ