Americans are solidly optimistic about the economy’s recovery, but most expect it to take up to five years to come back.

The findings come as President-elect Obama today delivers his first major speech since Election Day, arguing for a massive government spending plan to prevent the economy from becoming dramatically worse.

Just 39% of adults say the U.S. economy will be stronger than it is now in one year, while 31% predict it will be weaker in 12 months, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fifteen percent (15%) say it will be about the same, and another 15% are not sure.

But 62% say the economy will be stronger than now five years from today. Only 14% expect it to be weaker, and nine percent (9%) say the economy will be about the same. Again, 15% are unsure.

Investors are more bullish. Nearly half (46%) expect the economy to be stronger than today within a year, compared to 33% of non-investors. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of investors say it will be stronger n five years versus 54% of non-investors.

The level of optimism is the same when Americans are asked how long it will take for the stock market to fully recover from the recent downturn. Just nine percent (9%) say one year, 22% say two years, and 18% predict it will recover within three years. Thirty-two percent (32%) believe it will take more than three years, and 20% are undecided.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of investors think the market will be fully recovered within three years, but just 41% of non-investors agree.

The findings are slightly more pessimistic as far as the housing market is concerned. Only five percent (5%) of Americans think housing prices will fully recover within the next year, while 16% say it will take two years. Twenty-one percent (21%) see a full turnaround within three years, and 39% believe it will take more than three years. Eighteen percent (18%) aren’t sure.

In a survey last month, 59% of homeowners said they expected the value of their home to go up over the next five years, but they were less optimistic about its value in the short term.

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Even before Obama’s speech, a majority of voters (54%) now say a major government economic recovery plan is necessary to restore the U.S. economy to good health, although 33% say the economy can recover on its own.

Americans are fairly closely divided on the likelihood that the United States will enter a 1930s-like Depression. Forty-four percent (44%) think it is at least somewhat likely, with 14% who say it’s Very Likely. But 12% say it’s not at all likely. Ten percent (10%) are undecided.

In a survey in September, 41% of voters were Very Concerned that the economy would slip into a Depression similar to 1929, with only three percent (3%) not at all concerned.

Generally, male voters are more confident than female voters about how quickly the economy will recover. Higher-income voters are more positive than those who earn less.

Democrats, with Obama in the White House and larger majorities in the House and Senate, are far more optimistic than Republicans and unaffiliated voters. Forty-eight percent (48%) of Democrats, for example, say the economy will be stronger one year from now than it is today, but only 38% of unaffiliateds and 30% of Republicans agree. Forty-three percent (43%) of Republicans and 33% of unaffiliated voters believe the economy will be weaker in a year, compared to just 20% of Democrats.

Looking down the road, 72% of Democrats say the economy will be stronger in five years, with 52% of Republicans and 58% of unaffiliated voters in agreement.

But while a majority (55%) of GOP voters think the stock market will fully recover within three years, just 47% of Democrats and 44% of unaffiliateds agree. Republicans also are slightly more confident than the other two on how quickly the housing market will recover.

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