Poll Finds 66% Believe Nation Is in a Recession

Despite assurances by economists that a slow recovery is under way, nearly two of three Americans believe that the nation still is mired in a recession--or a depression--according to a new poll by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press.

The center’s latest “news interest index” shows that the public’s attention continues to be focused on economic issues, with only 34% believing that an economic recovery has begun.

Over the last month--a period that included the presidential transition, a worsening war in Bosnia and a host of other major events--only the deployment of U.S. forces to Somalia attracted more public attention than press reports on the economy, the center found.

The poll said that the “sustained interest” of Americans in news about economic conditions continues a trend found in previous polls over the last 2 1/2 years. The public registered “an unusually high level of information about economic problems,” with a surprising 72% of all respondents being able to recall the names of major corporations that have announced impending cutbacks, the survey said.

Before the recession, such polls rarely found that major economic stories were followed very closely by even 30% of the public, the center said. But since then, interest in economic news has remained at the 35% mark or above, with interest strongest in regions with the highest unemployment.

The survey found economic news reports were followed most closely in the hard-hit East (50%) and West (47%) more than in the Midwest (34%) or the South (40%), where the economy has been less troubled.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Overall, 42% of the respondents to the Times Mirror telephone survey earlier this month said that they followed economic news “very closely,” with 52% reporting that they paid “very close” attention to reports on the deployment of U.S. forces to Somalia.

Other major news stories attracted considerably less public attention, even though they drew large audiences in absolute terms, the center reported. These included President Bush’s strategic arms agreement (26%), appointments by President-elect Bill Clinton (24%), the presidential pardon of Iran-Contra defendants (23%) and Clinton’s economic conference (21%).

Most notably, however, Americans continue to be indifferent to the war in Bosnia, with only 15% saying that they followed news from the Balkans very closely, the survey said. The percentage marks only a marginal improvement over the 10% who said that they followed the conflict very closely in Times Mirror’s previous sampling last September. Times Mirror Co. is the owner of the Los Angeles Times and other newspaper, broadcasting and publishing enterprises.

In response to questions about Clinton, Americans of all ages said that they believe he has met his pledge to reflect the makeup of the country by naming more women and members of minorities to high-level posts, the survey found. A total of 68% said they believe that Clinton has appointed more minorities and women than past presidents, with women and men about equally subscribing to this view.

Asked how they receive their news, 43% of Times Mirror’s respondents said they relied both on a print source and on television for national and international news, 40% said they relied on television exclusively and 14% said that they rely only on newspapers or magazines.