Americans pessimistic on US economy

A poll on the US economy indicates that most Americans believe the country is stuck in a recession, not expecting much improvement in near future.

The latest USA-Today-Gallup poll shows a whopping 82-percent of those polled think the economy is still in a recession. Over half or 54% of the respondents, a sampling of the whole nation, expect the economy to be in the same or even worse shape in a year, reported Gallup on Wednesday.

Negativity and chronic cynicism among Americans has grown drastically over the past year. In 2009, more Americans were more optimistic about a better financial condition for the country in a year’s time.

The Blue Chip Economic Indicators report, representing assessments of a group of US economists, forecasted last week that the US economy would grow roughly 1.8% in the third quarter. Such a showing would barely beat the 1.6% growth from the second quarter while falling well short of the 3.7% recorded during the first quarter.

The sluggish and inconsistent growth, combined with continuing high unemployment, helps explain why Americans are backpedaling on the relative optimism they expressed a year ago.