POLL: Voters prefer Kerry to Bush on #1 issue of concern, the economy

From Reuters:

President Bush has a small lead over Sen. John Kerry six weeks before the presidential election, but voters favor the Democratic candidate on jobs and unemployment, a new poll showed on Thursday.

Fifty-one percent of respondents to the survey conducted for the Wall Street Journal and NBC News said they disapproved of the Republican Bush's handling of the economy, which they consider the most important election issue....

The poll found 28 percent of registered voters think the most important issue leading into the Nov. 2 election is the economy, 23 percent said the top issue was terrorism and 20 percent said the war in Iraq.

Voters' views on the economy were bleak, the poll showed. Thirty-six percent believe the economy has gotten worse over the past 12 months, up from 33 percent a month ago.

Twenty-nine percent of voters think the economy has gotten better over the past 12 months, it said.