A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that 82 percent of Americans believe we are still in a recession, despite new numbers indicating economic growth.
They say they won't be ready to celebrate until they see real changes in their lives. Most Americans don't believe the recession is over yet -- and for good reason. Unemployment is stuck at nearly 10 percent and could go higher.
"We work in an industry that has lost a lot of jobs and we haven't started rehiring yet," Maclom McMullen said. "We both work as managers, who would be responsible for hiring, we are just not."
Two-thirds of Americans, 74 percent, say they are worried about the direction of the nation's economy, while 60 percent are worried about their own family's finances. Some don't even have enough for the basics.
"We can't afford groceries anymore to the standard that we're used to," Alicia Gagnon said.
So why is it that the nation's top economists see things so differently?
"Well economics isn't like sports, there is no buzzer that ends the game suddenly and jubilation for one side and despair for the other. It just ends very slowly," Robert Brusca, chief economist for Fact & Opinion Economics, explained.
Meanwhile, 75 percent of the nation's wealthiest think the country is still in a recession, while 84 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Democrats agree with that assessment.
