尽管有创纪录的经济扩张，但许多美国人仍然专注于维持账单，而不是积累储蓄，这意味着如果经济衰退来袭，他们将准备不足。
消费者金融公司Bankrate的一项调查显示，尽管经济从大萧条中复苏已经持续了10多年，但仍有38%的美国人担心能否支付账单放星期三。本月早些时候在1017名受访者中进行的调查发现，29%的美国人专注于储蓄，19%的人专注于还债。
调查发现，收入更多的人更注重储蓄。收入在75，000美元或以上的受访者中，39%的人表示他们的首要财务优先事项是储蓄，而收入低于30，000美元的受访者中，只有19%的人表示他们主要关注储蓄，而51%的收入群体表示他们主要关注支付账单。
Bankrate的最新调查显示，尽管对经济衰退的担忧加剧，但许多美国人对可能出现的衰退毫无准备。
Bankrate的高级经济分析师马克·哈姆里克说:“当经济衰退开始时，每个没有足够储蓄的家庭都会生活在边缘，从某种意义上说，甚至在经济衰退开始之前，他们就生活在边缘。”。“对于那些感觉自己的账单上有现金的人来说，合乎逻辑的下一步应该是存更多的钱。”
Bankrate和其他机构此前的调查也同样引发了人们对美国人储蓄水平的担忧，并指出，缺乏经济缓冲意味着衰退可能会造成特别大的损害。
美联储2018年的一项调查找到40%的美国人如果不卖东西或借钱就无法支付400美元的紧急费用。
七月，破产了出版一项调查发现，28%的美国人没有储蓄，只有18%的人有足够的储蓄支付六个月的费用。
尽管美国人的储蓄状况令人担忧，而且有能力承受经济衰退的金融影响，数据上个月发布的国家商业经济协会的报告发现，72%的经济学家认为衰退将在2021年底前发生。
经济数据显示经济相对强劲，尽管上月就业增长放缓，9月份消费者信心大幅下降，创下9个月来最大跌幅。发布这一指标的会议委员会表示，唐纳德·特朗普总统对华贸易战的升级是导致这一下降的部分原因。尽管如此，8月份的失业率仍为3.7%。
但对美中贸易战造成的不确定性的担忧加剧了对衰退即将到来的担忧。
AMERICANS ARE UNPREPARED FOR A RECESSION: SURVEY FINDS AMERICANS FOCUSED ON PAYING BILLS, NOT SAVING
Despite the record economic expansion, many Americans are still focused on keeping up with bills rather than accumulating savings, which means they'll be less prepared if a recession hits.
Although the economic recovery from the Great Recession has continued for more than 10 years, 38 percent of Americans are still concerned about keeping up with their bills, according to a survey from consumer finance company Bankrate released Wednesday. The survey, which was conducted earlier this month among 1,017 respondents, found that 29 percent of Americans were focused on savings and 19 percent were focused on paying debt.
The survey found that individuals earning more money were more focused on saving. Thirty-nine percent of respondents earning $75,000 or more said their primary financial priority was saving, while only 19 percent of respondents earning less than $30,000 said that they were primarily focused on saving, while 51 percent of that income group reported that they were mainly concerned with paying bills.
The survey is the latest from Bankrate that shows many Americans are unprepared for a possible recession, even as concerns about an economic downturn rise.
"Every household that doesn't have sufficient savings will be living on the edge when a recession arises, and in a sense, they're living on the edge even before a recession arises," Bankrate's senior economic analyst, Mark Hamrick, said. "For people who have a sense that they are current on their bills, the logical next step would be to save more money."
Prior surveys from Bankrate and others have similarly raised concerns about the amount of savings that Americans have and noted that the lack of an economic buffer means a recession could be particularly damaging.
A 2018 survey from the Federal Reserve found that 40 percent of Americans wouldn't be able to pay a $400 emergency expense without selling something or borrowing money.
In July, the Bankrate published a survey that found 28 percent of Americans have no savings and only 18 percent had enough savings to pay for six months of expenses.
Despite the concerning state of Americans' savings and ability to weather the financial impact of a recession, data from the National Association for Business Economics released last month found that 72 percent of economists thought a recession would take place by the end of 2021.
Economic readings depict a relatively strong economy, although job growth slowed last month and consumer confidence dropped sharply in September, registering the biggest drop in nine months. The Conference Board, which issues the metric, said that President Donald Trump's escalation of the trade war with China was partly responsible for the drop. Still, unemployment was at 3.7 percent in August.
But concerns about the uncertainty caused by the U.S.-China trade war have contributed to worries that a recession is coming.
