Recession earns a shrug

Two-thirds of Utahns say the recession has not materially harmed them, and they are about the same off financially as they were a year ago, a new poll shows.

And the same number believe Utah state and local government officials should take all the federal economic stimulus money they can get.

The findings come in a new public opinion survey conducted for the Deseret News and KSL-TV by Dan Jones & Associates.

While 65 percent of Utahns say they have not been much harmed by the deep, lingering recession, 28 percent said they are worse off than 12 months ago. Only 8 percent said they are better off than a year ago.

The poll was taken April 27 of 254 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 6.2 percent.

GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. says the state government will take just about every dime Congress and President Barack Obama gives it.

But while building about $1.6 billion federal money into state budgets, a number of conservative legislators also slam the "socialistic" spending by national Democrats, even passing a resolution criticizing it.

Jones finds that 30 percent of Utahns don't want their state or local governments to accept federal stimulus money.

That's a clear minority. But some of those right-wing state House and Senate members know their political base.

Jones found that 48 percent of those who said they are "very conservative" politically don't want Utah governments taking any stimulus money, while 41 percent of those conservatives said take the money and run.

A number of Utahns have been harmed in the recession — with the state's unemployment levels and home foreclosure rates climbing.

Still, both those numbers locally are lower than national averages.

The March 2009 unemployment rate in Utah was 5.4 percent; 9 percent across the nation.

E-MAIL: bbjr@desnews.com