Most U.S. adults think a recession is here

WASHINGTON, March 17 (UPI) -- A majority of U.S. adults polled say they believe the U.S. economy is in a recession.

A CNN/Opinion Corp. poll released Monday found nearly three-quarters -- 74 percent -- of 1,019 adults polled said the county is in a recession, a jump from the 66 percent who said so a month ago.

In the phone survey of 1,019 adults conducted during the weekend, the economy was twice as likely as the war in Iraq to be chosen as the primary issue voters would use to guide their votes in the next presidential election, the poll said.

"Forty-two percent of those polled say the economy is the biggest issue on their minds, nearly double the amount who felt that way in October, the last time Iraq topped the list as the most important issue," Keating Holland, CNN's polling director, said.

Twenty-one percent said Iraq was the leading issue of the day while 18 percent chose heathcare. Ten percent chose terrorism and 7 percent chose immigration, the researchers said.

The survey contained a sampling error of 4.5 percentage points, CNN/Opinion Research Corp. said.