60% Of Americans Are Convinced We're In A Recession

The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index fell 10.8 percent in March to 42.2, down from 47.3 in February.

A reading below 50 indicates net pessimism.

"Americans across-the-board think that the economic outlook is grim," said Raghavan Mayur, president of TIPP.

"The big slide in our economic outlook sub-index perhaps signals a turning point and an impending entry into a recession. This month sixty percent believe that the economy is in a recession."

The index has three key components and all of them decline in March.

1. The Six-Month Economic outlook sub-index fell 18 percent to 38.8. This stood at 32.1 when the economy entered a recession in December 2007.
2. The Personal Financial Outlook sub-index fell 4.4 percent to 52.2. This gauges how Americans feel about their own finances.
3. Confidence in Federal Economic Policies sub-index fell 11 percent to 35.5.

Consumers have been hit by higher taxes, and the "cynical manipulation and exaggeration of the impacts of the sequester in Washington".

The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index is considered a good leading indicators to other consumer confidence indicators like University of Michigan consumer confidence.