NEW YORK, US - NEARLY half the US workers polled in a survey released on Tuesday said they were worried their jobs are at risk amid the current economic crisis.

With job fears in mind, 25 per cent said they were scanning help-wanted ads or updating their resumes, according to the survey commissioned by Workplace Options, a provider of work-life employee benefits based in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Forty-seven per cent of respondents said news of the financial crisis made them fear for their jobs, the survey said, and 53 per cent said they were not concerned about their job security.

The same number, 53 per cent, said they were cutting back on spending due to concerns about the financial crisis.

The survey was the first about job security in the current economic crisis commissioned by the company, and responses to the crisis and job security have not been regularly tracked by the company in previous surveys.

The nationwide survey was conducted by Public Policy Polling on Sept 26 and 27.

It polled 452 working adults in the United States and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. -- REUTERS