The monthly poll for March found that 35 percent of those surveyed immediately said "the economy" when asked to name the top issue. That was twice the percentage who gave that response in January and about the same as the 34 percent in February.

Fifty-five percent listed either the economy or some economic issue like rising food and energy prices, lost jobs or the troubled housing and financial markets.

The percentage who said the Iraq War was the top problem dipped slightly from 24 percent in February to 21 percent. There were larger declines with some other issues, including health care from 12 percent to 8 percent and immigration from 9 percent to 6 percent.

Gallup surveyed 1,012 adults by telephone from March 6 to March 9.