Workers in Los Angeles grew more jittery in March as the subprime mortgage lending crisis made headlines and threatened to spill over into the larger housing market, according to a new survey.

According to the monthly Hudson Employment Index, put out by New York-based Hudson Highland Group Inc., the reading for Los Angeles in March was 111.7, down 1.3 points from the record high of 113.0 reached in February. Although the index slipped a bit, it was still well above last March’s reading of 104.7.

The index is based on a nationwide survey of 9,000 workers in 11 major cities; a reading of 100 is considered the baseline.

The biggest change in the L.A. index was in workers’ own assessment of their financial condition. One third of respondents said their finances worsened in March, up from 30 percent in February. And the number of workers who described their finances as “excellent” or good fell two points to 47 in March.

Nationwide, the employment index rose to 109 in March from 107.1 in February. Atlanta recorded the highest index reading of 119.7; Boston was lowest at 97.3.