A new Federal Reserve survey showed that four in 10 American Households are still struggling financially due to tight credit, education debt and retirement issues five years after the Great Recession.

The Federal Reserve survey, which studies American consumers and assesses their economic well-being, showed that the US economy had progressed to a point where most American households said they are living comfortably.

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But a stark truth emerged in the survey done in September 2013 and reported on Thursday: 40 percent of Americans continue to struggle financially five years after the recession.

That means 4 out of 10 Americans have not fully recovered, financially, following the announcement five years ago that the Great Recession was over.

In fact, the Federal Reserve study showed that more Americans claimed their financial situation was even worse compared with their situation during the recession.

"It only showed that the recovery from the Great Recession five years ago has not delivered for a huge chunk of American households," said an economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

The Federal Reserve's findings show proof that the recovery from the 2007-2009 recession has been slow and unequal and was generally skewed to the wealthy.

Despite the grim reality that 40 percent of Americans are still struggling financially, the Fed report suggested that many people still have positive outlook about their finances.

The study showed that more than 60 percent expected their income to stay the same within a period of one year while 21 percent said they expect their income to increase.

Only 16 percent of those surveyed were pessimistic, expecting their income to decline in the next 12 months.

Majority of homeowners, or about 60 percent of those who answered the Fed survey, expects the value of their houses to rise in the next 12 months.

TagsRecession, American Economy