Sampling, data collection and tabulation for this poll were done by TNS Intersearch.

Asked to choose between the two, 49 percent say terrorism is the bigger problem facing the nation today. But — with recession officially upon us and no terrorist strikes since Sept. 11 — about as many, 47 percent, say it's the economy.

This result underscores the urgency with which the Bush administration has been pushing Congress for an economic stimulus package. While President Bush's job approval rating remains extraordinarily high in today's wartime environment, it's always vulnerable to economic discontent — as Bush's father demonstrated during the downturn of the early 1990s.

Other polls have shown an easing of concern about imminent terrorism. The number of people calling terrorism (or related issues) the nation's most important problem has lost 17 points since October in Gallup polls, to 47 percent. Meanwhile, the the number saying it's the economy has grown by 10 points, to 30 percent.

That's in an open-ended question; this poll, measuring the two concerns head to head, finds an even closer division in opinion.

Naturally, of course, both issues are concerns: Terrorism personally affects fewer people, but carries devastating consequences to those it does touch. Economic troubles are less damaging, but have much broader personal impact.

Where you stand depends, in part, on where you live. In the Northeast, where the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, people call terrorism a bigger problem than the economy by a 16-point margin, 57-41 percent. In the Midwest and West, by contrast, the economy is seen as a bigger problem, by a five- or six-point edge.

Bigger problem:
	Terrorism	Economy
Northeast	57%	41
South	50	46
Midwest	44	50
West	46	51

There are other differences among groups. Women, Republicans and older Americans are more apt to call terrorism a bigger problem; men and Democrats are more apt to say it's the economy.

Bigger problem:
	Terrorism	Economy
Women	54%	41
Men	44	53
Republicans	59	39
Democrats	43	55
Independents	48	50
Age 55+	56	38
Age 18-54	46	50

Methodology
This ABCNEWS.com survey was conducted by telephone Dec. 12-16 among a random national sample of 1,020 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation were conducted by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

Archived ABCNEWS polls can be found in the Poll Vault.