SHOCKER: Public Worries About Unemployment Way Up. Highest in nearly 30 years. “The partisan breakdowns will surprise a bit, too. The reassuring talk from the White House has failed to assuage the concerns of their own party most of all. Forty-one percent of Democrats call unemployment the most important problem with the general economic environment second at 29%. Independents split 32/27, while Republicans break 31/32, putting the general economy slightly ahead of joblessness.”