AMERICANS' ECONOMIC CONCERNS REACH TWO-YEAR HIGH

Three in four Americans name some type of economic issue as the "most important problem" facing the country today -- the highest net mentions of the economy in two years.

Gallup has been asking Americans the most important problem question on a monthly basis since 2001. Economic issues began to dominate Americans' concerns in 2008 as the financial crisis unfolded, and rose to an all-time high of 86% in February 2009. Since then, Americans have still generally been more concerned about economic matters than non-economic ones, although the percentage naming economic concerns did fall for much of 2009 before creeping back up in 2010 and 2011.