Pessimism about job prospects has not dampened Americans’ overall outlook on the economy, according to results released today from a Harris Poll conducted Dec. 6 to Dec. 13.

When asked to compare their current financial situation with last year’s, 42 percent of respondents to the online survey said they feel less secure, 36 percent feel the same and 19 percent said they feel more financially secure.

Those responses were an improvement over last year, when 56 percent of those surveyed said they were less optimistic about their financial situation.

In the current survey, 29 percent of respondents said they expect the economy to improve this year, 26 percent said they expect the economy to get worse and 45 percent said it will stay the same.

Regarding the job market, slightly more than one in three Americans rate employment prospects in their region of the country as good, three in five rate it as bad and about one-quarter say it is neither good nor bad.

Looking to what people may be doing with regard to their finances in the coming year, 49 percent said they will cut back on their household spending. Two in five said they will pay down their level of debt and save more in the year ahead. One in five adults say they will get rid of one or more credit cards and save more for retirement. One in five people said they do not expect to do anything differently financially in 2011.