Americans Worry About the Economy

The wavering stock market has made Americans nervous about the economy, according to Gallup. In February, Gallup's polling found, we are slightly more likely to name the economy generally as the "most important problem facing the country" than we have been in the last two months.

Seventeen percent of Americans cited the economy as the top problem, up from 13 percent last month and 9 percent in December. Altogether, 39 percent of Americans named some economic issue -- including the economy in general, unemployment/jobs, the federal budget, wages and others -- as the most important problem in February. That is up from less than 30 percent in December and January.

Fittingly, in this election year, the responses were split across party lines. Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to name the federal budget deficit as the major problem; Democrats and independents are more likely than Republicans to name unemployment or jobs as most important.