Financial security drops sharply

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Americans' feelings of financial security drop sharply in July. I'm Kristin Arnold with the Bankrate.com Personal Finance Minute.

Disappointing economic data and ongoing concerns about the European debt crisis helped Americans' feelings of financial security post the biggest drop in 11 months, with the Bankrate.com Financial Security Index falling to the lowest level since March.

Greg McBride is a senior financial analyst with Bankrate.com, and Greg, with all the bad headlines lately, were there any surprises this month?

Interestingly, despite another poor jobs report in early July, feelings of job security were the least affected and remain the one component of financial security that Americans feel is most improved relative to one year ago.

Bankrate.com also found that just 60 percent of American households track their monthly spending against a budget, leaving plenty of room for improvement.

For more details, just log onto Bankrate.com. I'm Kristin Arnold.