A majority of Americans -- 63 percent -- said in a new poll that they have been directly hurt by the tanking U.S. economy, and 66 percent say they are worried about maintaining their standard of living.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll,
published Wednesday, also found that about two in 10 Americanas reported knowing someone living in their household had lost a job in the past few months.
More than 25 percent said they had their pay or hours reduced, and about 15 percent said they fell behind in their rent ort mortgage payments in the past year.
The poll found that 82 percent of Americans believed the country was on the wrong track, and 68 percent disapproved of how President George W. Bush was handling his duties.
Despite the gloom, 55 percent said they gave President-elect Barack Obama good marks in dealing with the economy. About two-thirds of Americans said they supported new federal spending to stimulate the economy, although they had concerns about how spending would impact the federal deficit.
The poll was conducted by telephone Dec. 11 to 14 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults, including landline and cell-only respondents.
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