The economy and unemployment are the biggest concerns for Maine voters, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Portland-based research firm Critical Insights.

Critical Insights’ 2011 Tracking Survey tracks attitudes and concerns of Maine residents on politics, the economy and other issues. The results are based on random telephone surveys with 600 registered Maine voters contacted from May 5-9. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 4 percentage points at the 95th percentile.

Prices of gasoline and utilities were identified as the most immediate financial concerns.

Due to concern about gas prices, 40 percent of those polled don’t intend to take any trips this summer requiring them to spend a night away from home.

The survey also found that about 65 percent of respondents expect the recession to last at least another two years.

Also, Maine voters are not optimistic about the direction of the state and the country.

Only three in 10 surveyed said they feel the country is headed in the right direction, while fewer than one in four feel the state is on the right course.

About three in 10 surveyed expressed approval of the job that Gov. Paul LePage is doing. More than half (54 percent) disapproved.

When asked how they would vote in the election for Maine governor if they had the opportunity to vote again, seven in 10 said they would vote for the same person, while about one-quarter said they would vote for someone else.

Thirty-three percent of the people polled said they were Democrats, 33 percent said they were Republicans and 26 percent said they were independents.