Concerns about economic issues – especially jobs – will play a critical role in this year’s presidential election.

Among registered voters, 84% say jobs will be a very important issue in deciding who to vote for this fall. About as many (86%) say the economy more generally will be a very important issue.

Roughly three-quarters cite the federal budget deficit (74%), health care (74%) and education (72%) as top voting priorities. Near the bottom of the list of 18 concerns are some of the hot-button social issues. Just 28% say that gay marriage is a very important issue, and 34% rate birth control as a top issue.

And while there are some large party divides in assessing the importance of many of the issues, that is not the case for jobs. High numbers of Republicans (85%), Democrats (86%) and independents (81%) say this will be a very important issue. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.