Ipsos-Mori have released their August Issues Index.

The fieldwork was conducted during the Olympics. They note

That despite the public’s captivation with London 2012, the economy and unemployment remains top of their agenda. Three fifths (61%) of the public mention the economy as one of the most important issues facing Britain today.

This polling has been carried out in the same way for 37 years and involves interviewees being asked face to face and completely unprompted to name the main issues they are are facing the country.

It is always said that the lack of prompting makes this a good test of salience and the pollsters online archive is a great resource.

The chart below shows the level of concern about the economy alongside the GDP figures, and it clearly shows how concern about the economy has grown as GDP has faltered.