Although more investors report recovery in their portfolioscompared to the market lows of three years ago, fewer Americans aresaving for retirement at all, a new study from Edward Jones shows.

According to the survey, 15 percent of Americans have recoveredtheir portfolio losses since the financial downturn (up from 12percent who reported recovery last year). But 25 percent of peoplesay they are not saving for retirement at all, a 9 percentage pointincrease since 2010.

Retirement savings are particularly low for younger Americans,the survey finds; those between the ages of 18 to 34 not saving forretirement increased significantly from 26 percent in 2010 tonearly half (49 percent) in 2011.

The survey also showed that although more than half (54 percent)of Americans' retirement portfolios have not recovered at all from theeconomic downturn, that number is improved from a year ago when 67percent responded that their portfolios had not yet recovered.

"While we cannot predict market corrections or when the nextfinancial downturn will occur, we do know that it benefits allinvestors to stay invested through the various cycles and focus onlong-term financial goals," said Scott Thoma, Investment PolicyCommittee member at Edward Jones.

The survey showed slightly more promise for older Americans.Those aged 55 to 64 saw their retirement savings increasesignificantly compared to the previous year. Twenty-one percent ofrespondents said their retirement savings are back to normal levelsin 2011 compared to 14 percent of those in the same age bracket in2010.

Americans who expect their portfolios to recover in more thanthree years also decreased to 21 percent from 29 percent in April2010.

Other key findings from the survey of 1,009 people, which wasconducted by Opinion Research Corporation, included:

• Respondents in the West and Midwest were most optimistic abouttheir retirement savings with 18 percent and 17 percentrespectively indicating their retirement savings haverecovered.
• While 62 percent of respondents between the ages of 35 to 44still believe their retirement portfolios have not yet recovered,this is a significant improvement from last year (76 percent).
• The percentage of respondents who expect their retirementportfolios to take six years or more to recover fell slightly to 12percent in 2011 from 15 percent in 2010.