Fox News Poll: Most voters say economy hasn’t recovered from recession

Economists declared the recession over six years ago -- but voters don’t seem to be buying it, according to the latest Fox News national poll.

It was in June 2009 -- about six months after President Obama took office -- the Great Recession was officially declared over.

That might be what the economic data said, yet 78 percent of voters still think the economy has yet to recover to where it was before the recession.  That includes 44 percent who feel it has “only somewhat” recovered and another 34 percent who say it hasn’t really recovered “at all.”

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Two percent feel the economy has “completely” recovered and 19 percent gauge it as being “mostly” back in shape.

Those with annual incomes of below $50,000 (80 percent) and those with incomes above $50,000 (75 percent) are about equally likely to say they don’t see a recovery.

In general, views split over how things are going with the nation’s economy these days: 49 percent of voters feel confident, but 50 percent don’t.

When voters are asked about their own personal finances, 73 percent feel confident about them.  That’s down a bit from the 78 percent who were confident five years ago, when the question was last asked on a Fox News poll (September 2010).

Moreover, voter confidence in their financial future is almost identical today to what it was when President Obama’s first term began in January 2009.  At that time, more voters were confident in their financial future by a 49-point margin (74 vs. 25 percent).  Today, more feel certain by a 47-point margin (73 vs. 26 percent).

Voters have been more likely to disapprove than approve of Obama’s handling of the economy for the past six years.  Last month, 45 percent approved of the job he’s doing, and 51 percent disapproved (September 20-22, 2015).

Political Snapshot

Democrats (35 percent) are about four times more likely than Republicans (9 percent) to feel the nation’s economy is mostly or completely back to where it was before the recession.

Confidence in the economy among Democrats (71 percent confident) is closely matched by the lack of confidence among Republicans (69 percent not confident).

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,004 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from October 10-12, 2015. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.