Probably the only piece of economic news that matters today, and possibly all year, no scratch that, since the "End Of The Recession" (NBER TM) - according to Reuters: "The April 20-23 Gallup survey of 1,013 U.S. adults found that only 27 percent said the economy is growing. 29 percent said the economy is in a depression and 26 percent said it is in a recession, with another 16 percent saying it is "slowing down," Gallup said." That means that more Americans think the country is in a Depression, let alone recession, than growing. Cue crickets and a Bernanke press conference where he discusses alien abductions and 8 toed mutant Madagascar lemurs.

Said otherwise, a combined 71% believe the economy is deteriorating two years after the stock market more than doubled. That can't be right...

The health of the U.S. economy is expected to be a major issue as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, seeks re-election in 2012.



The government reported on Thursday that U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected to 1.8 percent in the first quarter of the year, as soaring food and gasoline prices drained consumer spending power.



A slowdown in first-quarter growth was acknowledged on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, which described the U.S. economic recovery as proceeding at a "moderate pace." That was a step back from the "firmer footing" that Fed officials cited for the recovery in March.



The Gallup poll found that Democrats are the most likely to say the economy is growing. Forty-three percent of Democrats said the economy is in a recession or depression, 13 percent said it is slowing down and 42 percent said it is growing.

In other news, Welcome to the Recovery (GeithnerTM)