A new survey says the current recession has adversely affected more than half the nation’s working adults. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly half of respondents reported being in worse financial shape than they were before the economic crisis hit over two years ago. More than six in ten say they’ve cut down on borrowing and spending. At a meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke on Tuesday, President Obama said he hopes to see millions of unemployed Americans put back to work.

President Obama: “There is a great concern about the eight million jobs that were lost during the course of these last two years, and that we’ve got to continually push the pace of economic growth in order to put people back to work. That ultimately is the measure for most Americans of how well the economy is doing.”