Jobs top list of Americans' economic fears

Forget about the stock market, income inequality, the rise of China or the housing crisis. Americans name jobs and unemployment as their single greatest economic anxiety, a new Gallup poll shows.

When asked what worries them most about the national economy at this time, 26 percent of those surveyed said jobs and unemployment are their top concern. The national debt and federal budget deficit came in second at 16 percent, while 10 percent said continuing economic decline and instability was their biggest fear, Gallup found.

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"Few Americans say that inequality or the gap between the rich and poor worries them, and a small 3 percent mention that the power of corporations and their influence on the economy is what worries them the most about the economy," writes Gallup's Frank Newport in the report. See the survey results below:

It's also notable that few Americans mentioned international events, such as the eurozone crisis, the influence of China, or the situation with Iran, as their top economic worry, Gallup says.

Foreign aid, the stock market, Social Security, taxes and energy also rated low on the list of Americans' top economic concerns.

Gallup included the open-ended question about the national economy in its Jan. 5-8 survey of more 1,000 Americans to find out more about the underlying nature of their economic concerns as this election year begins.