Everyone is talking about the sluggish economy, housing slump, credit crisis, weak labor market and flagging consumer confidence, but new Yankelovich research shows just how quickly consumers' anxieties have intensified - and which issues are causing them the most concern.

From January to May 2008, the percentage of American consumers who reported feeling "severe anxiety" about economic and other issues doubled - from 14 percent to 30 percent - according to Yankelovich, Inc.

The percentage of consumers who reported feeling either high anxiety or severe anxiety rose from 33 percent to 54 percent. In February, the Yankelovich study Dollars & Consumer Sense revealed that 14 percent of American consumers felt "severe anxiety" about their personal economic and financial situations. Less than four months later, 30 percent of American consumers shared that sentiment - double the January figure.

Two financial concerns topped the list in that research, with more than seven in 10 consumers mentioning them: the There was a corresponding decrease in the percentage who felt no anxiety.
The No. 1 concern among consumers is the cost of gasoline, with 83% at least fairly worried about it. However, the worry that showed the biggest increase from January to May is the overall cost of living, with 73% at least fairly worried about it, a jump of 34 percentage points since January.

Five worries showed the greatest increases over the last four months. The percentage of consumers who were "very" or "fairly" worried about these five things increased as follows:

- Keeping up with the cost of living (from 39% to 73%, a 34-point increase)
- Having enough money to put food on the table (from 17% to 42%, a 25-point increase)
- Getting out of debt (from 27% to 48%, a 21-point increase)
- Having enough money to retire on (from 43% to 64%, a 21-point increase)
- The cost of gasoline (from 75% to 83%, an 8-point increase)