Poll: Americans More Worried about Economy

Given the recent upward spike in food and gas prices, not to mention the volatility in financial markets, it’s not surprising that Americans are growing more worried about the economy. And that’s exactly what a new survey from CNBC shows.

The poll finds that 37 percent of Americans believe the economy will get worse in the next year, up from 22 percent in December and close to the four-year-old survey’s record high of 43 percent in June 2008. And the latest poll was taken just before Japan’s disaster last week, which may have worsened consumer sentiment.

Inflation is a major worry too. Respondents on average expect inflation to total 6.6 percent over the next year, up from their estimate of 3 percent in December.