In another measure of the country's troubled economy, two-out-of-three adults (66%) are cutting down on the number of people they are buying gifts for this year and concentrating on their families this holiday season.

Twenty-six percent (26%) say they are not cutting back on their gift giving, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Men (75%) and women (79%) under 40 are much more likely to give fewer presents this year than men (60%) and women (66%) over 40.

Non-married adults (71%) also are more likely to save a little more by not buying as many gifts this year than married adults (64%).

When they are shopping for others, most (59%) adults say that they are looking for the best deals they can. A third (34%) are not. Not surprisingly, women (62%) are looking for better deals than men (57%).

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A separate recent survey found that just 10% of adults will spend more this holiday season than they did last year, while 60% say they’ll spend less.

Looking beyond the national numbers to surveys in several states over the past week, shoppers in Minnesota and Virginia plan to spend less on gifts this year than those in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Last Friday’s government report that over half-a-million jobs were lost in November has pushed consumer and investor confidence, as measured by the Rasmussen Consumer and Investor indexes, down to new record lows. President Bush last week acknowledged that the country is in a recession, and 79% of adults agree.

When it comes to celebrating the season, 21% say they’ve cancelled parties. Thirty-one percent (31%) say they’ve had to scale back on their party plans, but 42% say the economy has had no effect on their plans.

Sixteen (16%) of investors and 25% of non-investors say that they’ve had to cancel a party because of the economy, as have 26% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans.

The majority (55%) of adults also say they have to cut down on the amount of charitable donations they can give this Christmas season. Only 38% say they aren’t cutting down on donations.

African-Americans (68%) are much more likely to cut back on donations than whites (54%).

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