Confidence in the economy is poor, with eight in 10 Americans believing the nation is currently in a recession, according to ...

Confidence in the economy is poor, with eight in 10 Americans believing the nation is currently in a recession, according to a new poll on Friday.

Indeed, one-third of those surveyed in a new CNN/ORC poll think that the recession is serious.

The United States is not in a recession. By definition, a recession is when the economy experiences two straight quarters of negative growth. In the past quarter of this year, the economy grew on an annualized basis of 1 percent.

However, economic performance is often linked to expectations and confidence in the economy. For example, those who view the economic outlook as bleak will save more and spend less, leading to an even weaker economy.

The public’s economic outlook has been worse in the past. In September 2009, nearly nine in 10 Americans thought the country was still in a recession. In June 2011, 48 percent of respondents to another CNN/ORC poll said that they feared the country was descending into another Great Depression.

About two-thirds of respondents to Friday’s poll said that the president should focus more on creating jobs, as opposed to deficit reduction.

However, Republican respondents differed on this question - with almost half arguing that deficit reduction is just as important as job creation initiatives. Meanwhile, 83 percent of Democrats want the president to focus more on job growth, and two-thirds of independents agree with this sentiment.

The CNN/ORC poll was conducted Aug. 24-25, with 1,017 adults surveyed and a /- three percent margin of error.