There's no doubt the recession, which started in December 2007, has taken a toll on Americans.

It has snatched a net total of 6.5 million jobs, and driven the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 per cent in June.

Americans watched their net worth shrink by US$1.3 trillion in the first three months of this year, due mainly to declining stocks and home values, the Federal Reserve says.

On the other hand, Americans aren't dealing with record-high gas prices as they were last summer. Credit and financial problems, which reached a crisis point last fall, have shown some signs of easing. But it's still hard for many people to get loans.

'I wouldn't conclude by any stretch that consumers feel safe or comfortable. But I think the uncertainty has mitigated. Some of the big fears people had at least disappeared some,' said James Hamilton, economics professor at the University of California, San Diego.

Last year, 33 per cent said they were at least 'somewhat concerned' that they would never be able to pay off their debts.

That's dropped to 27 per cent this year, the poll shows.

Other encouraging changes: The proportion of people saying they worry all or most of the time about debt fell to 19 per cent, from 24 per cent last year. And, the share of people who hardly ever fret or don't worry at all about debt grew to 47 per cent, from 41 per cent last year.

Nationwide, total household debt - including mortgages, credit cards, autos and other consumer loans - stood at US$13.8 trillion in the first three months of this year. That amounts to roughly US$124,000 of debt per household. The total debt figure is down only slightly from a peak of US$13.9 trillion in the third quarter of 2008, according to the Federal Reserve.

Although households are shedding debt, they aren't doing it quickly. Americans' debt exceeded their after-tax 'disposable' income by 28 per cent in the first quarter, according to Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at Moody's Economy.com.

So consumers' debt was almost a third more than their income. This debt-to-disposable income ratio peaked in the first quarter of 2008, when debt exceeded income by 33 per cent.

The savings rate jumped to 6.9 per cent in May, the highest since December 1993. The amount of money saved - US$768.8 billion - was the most on records that started in January 1959, the government recently reported. -- AP