Business

56 percent in new poll believe US is in recession

A customer pumps gas at an Exxon gas station May 10, 2022, in Miami.

More than half of Americans in a new poll from The Economist and YouGov believe that the U.S. is currently in a recession. 

The survey, published on Monday, found that 56 percent of respondents believed that the country is currently going through an economic recession. 

Twenty-two percent of respondents disagreed with the idea that the U.S is in a recession, while 22 percent of those surveyed said they are not sure if a recession is currently happening. 

Whether a respondent thought the economy had dipped into a recession largely was dependent on political party.

Seventy percent of respondents who identified as Republicans said they think that the U.S. is currently in a recession, while 8 percent of Republican respondents disagree, according to the poll. 

Just 45 percent of Democrat respondents said they think that the U.S. is in a recession, while 56 percent of independent respondents agreed. 

Fifty-eight percent of respondents who are 65 years or older believe that the country is going through an economic recession, while 54 percent of respondents who are 44 years old or younger agree, the poll said. 

The poll comes as fears of a possible recession have grown in the recent weeks due to the struggles of inflation caused by high costs at gas stations and products at grocery stores and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 

The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it will hike interest rates at the fastest pace its seen in nearly 30 years. 

Fifty-three percent of Black respondents believe that the county is in a recession, while 47 percent of Hispanic respondents agree with the sentiment, the poll noted. 

The Economist-You Gov poll was conducted from June 11 to 14, with a total of 1,500 respondents participating in the survey. The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.