Poll finds public stressed out from economy

WASHINGTON " Fears are mounting about losing a job, not having enough money to pay the bills and evaporating retirement accounts, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday. Nearly half of those surveyed said they worry about becoming unemployed " almost double last year's number.

The poll also found that in the past month, public support has dipped slightly for the $787 billion package of tax cuts and government spending that President Barack Obama signed into law this week on the promise that it will save or create 3.5 million jobs and re-ignite the troubled economy.

Nearly half of those questioned, 47 percent, worry at least somewhat about losing a job, up from 28 percent in February 2008. Nearly three-fourths, or 71 percent, say they know someone who has lost a job in the past six months because of the economy.

Last year, only 20 percent of those earning $50,000 annually or more worried about joblessness, as did 35 percent of those earning less than that amount.

More than two-thirds, 69 percent, worry that the value of their stocks and retirement investments will drop, up from 59 percent a year ago.

More than half, 53 percent, aren't confident they'll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, up from 34 percent in February 2005.

The AP-GfK poll was conducted Feb. 12-17 and involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,001 randomly chosen adults. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.