Poll: U.S. Cuts Back On Holiday Spending
As they absorb reports about widespread job losses and an economy now officially in recession, Americans are cutting back on their holiday spending to a degree unseen in at least two decades, a new CBS News poll finds.
Fifty-four percent of those surveyed plan to spend less money on gifts this season - the highest number since CBS News began asking the question in 1987. Just four percent plan to spend more than they have in the past few years, a historic low.
And 91 percent of Americans now say the economy is in bad shape, the highest percentage in the history of the CBS News poll. Sixty percent say it is getting worse. The percentage of Americans who say the economy is even somewhat good - just 9 percent - represents another historic low. A year ago, 41 percent of Americans thought the economy was in good shape.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they will spend under $500 on holiday gifts this year. Only 11 percent will spend over $1,000.
With the U.S. unemployment rate at 6.7 percent, the highest level since 1993, Americans are pessimistic about the job market in their area. While 41 percent expect it to stay the same, an identical percentage expects it to get worse. Just 17 percent expect the job market to improve.
Thirty-three percent are very concerned about someone in their household losing their job in the next year. Another 26 percent are somewhat concerned.
About half say their household income is just enough to pay their bills. Thirty-one percent say their income is enough to save and buy extras, while 19 percent say it is not enough to pay the bills.
Americans with the lowest incomes are most concerned about job loss. More than half of those making less than $30,000 are very concerned about losing their jobs, and, even now, nearly half of those in this category say their income is not sufficient to pay their bills.
Sixty-two percent of those surveyed say they are mostly anxious about their retirement savings, compared to just 32 percent who said they felt mostly secure about it.
One in four Americans expects the housing market in their area to get worse, while 17 percent expect it to improve. Fifty-five percent predict it will stay the same.
Fluctuations in the stock market appear to have made Americans more likely to view the market as a risky place to invest. Seventy-nine percent now say it is generally a risky investment - the highest number since CBS News began asking the question in 1998.
Despite this perceived risk, however, more than half of Americans think the stock market will go up in the next year. Among investors, that number rises to 63 percent.
Americans are split of the bailout for the nation's banks and financial industry, with 46 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving. Few believe it has helped the economy so far: Just 16 percent say it has made things better, while 14 percent say it has hurt and two in three say it has made no difference.
Forty-five percent expect the bailout to help in the long term, however.
Despite the grim economic landscape and overwhelmingly negative perceptions of the economy, a separate CBS News poll finds that 75 percent of Americans are optimistic about Barack Obama's presidency.
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,390 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone December 4-8, 2008. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed plan to spend less money on gifts this season - the highest number since CBS News began asking the question in 1987. Just four percent plan to spend more than they have in the past few years, a historic low.
And 91 percent of Americans now say the economy is in bad shape, the highest percentage in the history of the CBS News poll. Sixty percent say it is getting worse. The percentage of Americans who say the economy is even somewhat good - just 9 percent - represents another historic low. A year ago, 41 percent of Americans thought the economy was in good shape.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they will spend under $500 on holiday gifts this year. Only 11 percent will spend over $1,000.
More than one in five, meanwhile, say that financial concerns have prompted some change in their holiday travel plans.
Read The Complete Poll
With the U.S. unemployment rate at 6.7 percent, the highest level since 1993, Americans are pessimistic about the job market in their area. While 41 percent expect it to stay the same, an identical percentage expects it to get worse. Just 17 percent expect the job market to improve.
Thirty-three percent are very concerned about someone in their household losing their job in the next year. Another 26 percent are somewhat concerned.
About half say their household income is just enough to pay their bills. Thirty-one percent say their income is enough to save and buy extras, while 19 percent say it is not enough to pay the bills.
Americans with the lowest incomes are most concerned about job loss. More than half of those making less than $30,000 are very concerned about losing their jobs, and, even now, nearly half of those in this category say their income is not sufficient to pay their bills.
Sixty-two percent of those surveyed say they are mostly anxious about their retirement savings, compared to just 32 percent who said they felt mostly secure about it.
One in four Americans expects the housing market in their area to get worse, while 17 percent expect it to improve. Fifty-five percent predict it will stay the same.
Fluctuations in the stock market appear to have made Americans more likely to view the market as a risky place to invest. Seventy-nine percent now say it is generally a risky investment - the highest number since CBS News began asking the question in 1998.
Despite this perceived risk, however, more than half of Americans think the stock market will go up in the next year. Among investors, that number rises to 63 percent.
Americans are split of the bailout for the nation's banks and financial industry, with 46 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving. Few believe it has helped the economy so far: Just 16 percent say it has made things better, while 14 percent say it has hurt and two in three say it has made no difference.
Forty-five percent expect the bailout to help in the long term, however.
Despite the grim economic landscape and overwhelmingly negative perceptions of the economy, a separate CBS News poll finds that 75 percent of Americans are optimistic about Barack Obama's presidency.
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,390 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone December 4-8, 2008. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
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Posted by jamesm12341 at 09:16 AM : Dec 10, 2008
Even people with good education have difficulty finding and holding a job. The joblessness problem cuts across all educational levels. While you might think we still have high rates of employment, those who are employed are not making a whole lot anymore to make ends meet.
First millions of us have to realize that we live in a imperalistic, fascist country where big corporations and the rich control essentially EVERYTHING. That is NOT democracy!
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it is amazing how nobody blames their lack of education on not being able to get a good paying job
Posted by jamesm12341 at 09:16 AM : Dec 10, 2008
Securitized mortgage and credit card debt separated financial institutions'''' responsibility with lucrative loan fees.
Posted by perk235 at 07:37 AM : Dec 10, 2008
Not to mention the fact that some so-called mortgage brokers even resorted to forging people''s names on some documents (the ones that they didn''t bother to actually SHOW to the borrowers).
Posted by edintex at 10:28 PM : Dec 09, 2008
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Yes and 75% had jobs in the Great Depression I.
People who bought houses without taking the time to research their options, understand what they were doing, and were blinded by greed are responsible.
Posted by mikekittrell at 03:12 AM : Dec 10, 2008
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Banks who made TRILLIONS of dollars in risky cowboy bets are responsible for the financial crisis.
Do the math. 7 TRILLION bailout could have bought the 7% of foreclosed mortgages ten times over by now.
In addition, mortgage brokers made a ton of money with Yield Spread Premiums and with selling off the loan, why would they care if it couldn''t be paid back?
Did people make stupid mistakes? Yes. They trusted what they thought were banks of yesteryear that tried to avoid lending money to someone who might not make good on the loan.
Securitized mortgage and credit card debt separated financial institutions'' responsibility with lucrative loan fees.
The home buyers who caused this were the greedy ones who were flipping second homes, or who were buying homes and living in them and planning on flipping them for equity when their ARM''s adjusted up 3 years after the start of the loan. They were buying the expensive homes because if your getting 20% on a home flip, you get more cash if you start with a more expensive home - basic math here. When the pyramid scheme in these homes collapsed, those flippers short-sold or just walked away, and dumped their king-sized loans on the banks.
It takes a whole lotta $150K foreclosed homes to damanged the economy, but it doesen''t take many $800K foreclosed homes to do it. Get a clue, fool!