Recession falls on NY and Christmas: 67% Americans cutting back on holiday spending

Poll: 67% reduction in the cost of holiday
More than two-thirds of those surveyed in the CNN poll reporting belt-tightening.

Washington (CNN) - Americans say sagging economy makes the 2008 holiday season more stressful than in previous years, according to CNN poll on Monday, up to two-thirds of them reporting some belt-tightening.

Four in 10 people questioned in the CNN / Opinion Research Corp. survey said, adding the downturn to underline their holiday season. The survey found 67% of the 1,096 adults questioned said that they are sharply the amount they plan to spend on Christmas gifts or Chanukah, and 65% said they are short for leisure travel, dining, or going to movies.

"This means that the reduction in the number one holiday the way Americans react to the recession," CNN poll director Keating Holland said. "More Americans are sharply their gift budget, which sharply back into any other category of expenditure, from entertainment, like going to movies or restaurants, clothing for large purchases such as furniture or appliances."

In the poll, 31% of respondents said that they were reduced to necessities such as food or medicine, and 38% said they were reducing or electric heating bills. Half said they postponed big purchases like furniture or appliances - always a bad sign for the economy.

"No wonder so many Americans, who stressed this holiday season," said Holland.

CNN / Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted December 1-2, with a sampling error of 3 percentage points. Back to top