The economy still tops the public agenda, as concern about unemployment decreases

Ipsos's October Issues Index shows that the economy remains the most important issue facing the country today. Over half of the public (52%) place it amongst the most important issues facing Britain. This is a similar percentage to the number who cited this issue in June, July and August of this year.

The economy still tops the public agenda, as concern about unemployment decreases

Ipsos's October Issues Index shows that the economy remains the most important issue facing the country today. Over half of the public (52%) place it amongst the most important issues facing Britain. This is a similar percentage to the number who cited this issue in June, July and August of this year (54%, 55% and 54% respectively). Fieldwork was conducted before the release of figures showing that the UK is still in recession. Just over one in five (22%) see unemployment as among the most important issues facing Britain today, an eight point decrease from last month, which saw the highest level of concern about the issue measured since December 1998. October saw the release of ONS labour market figures showing the number of unemployed rose to 2.47 million in the three months to August, but this was the smallest monthly rise in claimants since May 2008. More of the public are concerned about crime than unemployment, though crime has seen an six point decrease since August - a quarter (26%) now see it as among the most important issues.
One in four (24%) are concerned about race relations/immigration, a drop of one percentage point since August.160 Technical note Ipsos's Issues Index is conducted monthly and provides an overview of the key issues concerning the country. The questions are open ended. Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of160980 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted face-to-face between 15th -20th Oct 2009. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.

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