Americans Worrying About The Economy Much Less

Americans are worrying less about the economy these days, with the least concern since before the recession in 2008, according to a Gallup poll.

The survey, based on more than 1,000 telephone interviews conducted Aug. 7-10, finds that 38 percent of adults list economic issues like jobs and unemployment as the most important problem threatening the country, compared to more than 70 percent in 2012.

Still, Americans continue to cite the economy among the top problems facing the country, ranking third after government and immigration. In a separate question, 18 percent of respondents said government is the country's most pressing problem, while 15 percent said immigration and 14 percent said the economy, down from 15 percent in July and 20 percent in June.

Americans began feeling more concerned about non-economic issues in May 2013, according to Gallup data. The trend has continued as job creation and consumer spending gradually increase, though sometimes less than economists had expected.

At the beginning of the year, jobs, the economy in general, dissatisfaction with government and health care were problems mentioned most often. During the U.S.-Mexico border crisis in May and June, when federal agencies took custody of about 10,000 foreign children entering the U.S., mentions of immigration to Gallup shot up 12 percentage points, to the top problem cited.