A poll carried out by Stifel Financial reveals that 18 percent of executives, business owners, and investors consider the economy already in a recession, compared to 79 percent of them expecting a downturn within the next 18 months.
Just three percent of executives think that the U.S. could altogether avoid a recession over the same time frame.
"Given the uncertain backdrop, it's understandable that companies are planning for a potentially prolonged downturn and are considering various economic scenarios, as well as their approach to strategic planning over the next year," Michael Kollender, head of consumer, retail and diversified industrials investment banking at Stifel, explained to Fox Business.
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"Market conditions and economic cycles often turn quickly," he continued.
The survey further reveals that businesses think that labor constraints, inflation, supply chain disruptions and a recession are the biggest threats to profitability.
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A significant part of executives - 53 percent - expects inflation risk to remain a challenge to their interests and assets for the next two quarters to a year, while 43 percent anticipate an economic fall to last for more than that.
In July, the US consumer price index jumped 8.5 percent from a year ago, according to the Labor Department. That was down from the eye-watering 9.1 percent annual increase seen in June, yet nonetheless far above the Federal Reserve's two percent target rate.
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Inflation has reached its highest peak in 40 years and it means the cost of everything from haircuts to back-to-school supplies has jumped painfully fast, and low-income and middle-class families have been hit the hardest.
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Yet gas prices have fallen off their recent peaks, offering some relief, food prices have proceeded to jump, with the cost of groceries rising 13.1 percent in July from the year before.
The study comes as the Biden administration proceeds to deny that the U.S. is in a recession, despite it shrinking for a second straight quarter in July.
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President Joe Biden and his officials point to metrics like record job growth and steadily levels of consumer spending to claim that the nation is not yet in a recession - and previously argued that such a downturn is not inevitable.
No. 46 has faced criticism from both sides of the aisle for being slow to react to Americans' growing financial burdens.
From calling inflation "transitory" in summer 2021, to denying there is a recession despite two quarters of negative economic growth, many polls have shown US voters feel that the president is disconnected from their struggles.
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