The economy is the nation's top concern by far, but anxiety about energy has grown more since spring than any other issue while the focus on Iraq continues to fade, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The findings by the Associated Press-Ipsos poll provide the latest confirmation of how economic woes -- including job losses, rising inflation and the ailing financial and housing markets -- are dominating voters' worries.

1. THE ECONOMY

Forty-four percent said the economy is the country's most important problem, a small increase from the 39 percent who said so in April.

2. ENERGY

An additional 22 percent named energy problems, including rising gasoline costs, an enormous rise from the 4 percent who said so last spring. Gasoline averaged about $3.33 per gallon in early April, about 70 cents less than it does now, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

3. IRAQ/FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Iraq war and other foreign affairs issues were named by just 15 percent in the poll. Iraq was cited by 25 percent in April and 40 percent in January, illustrating how rapidly the war has plummeted from its long-held perch as the No. 1 problem.

METHODOLOGY: The AP-Ipsos poll was conducted July 10-14 and used telephone interviews to ask 500 people to name the country's top problem. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.