More than three quarters of Americans think the United States is in a recession, and 40 per cent think the country will descend into a depression within a year, according to a poll.

The survey, conducted by CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation from October 17-19, found that 76 per cent of respondents believe the economy is in a recession.

According to the poll published yesterday, pessimism among Americans is growing. Seventy-five per cent of respondents said they thought the country is faring "fairly badly" or "very badly" due to the current global economic crisis, compared to only 49 percent of respondents who gave similar responses in 2007.

The findings are bad news for Republicans, who have controlled the White House for the last eight years.

The unfavorable political outlook may negatively impact Republican candidate John McCain because his rival Barack Obama consistently fares better on questions of who would better steer the country through economic crises, said CNN polling director Keating Holland.

The survey found that 56 per cent of Americans say Democrat Obama would do a better job than McCain on the economy, and 63 per cent think he would provide more help to the middle class.

"If Americans are angry about the state of the country, they're probably more angry at the Republicans than the Democrats, since the GOP has controlled the White House for the past eight years," Holland was quoted on the network's website.

The survey also found that three quarters of Americans said they are "very angry" or "rather angry" over the financial turmoil.