A third major poll in a matter of months has revealed that disapproval of US President Barack Obama is only increasing as more and more Americans are fed up with a job not-so-well-done by the commander-in-chief.
In a study put out today by Quinnipiac University, pollsters suggest that President Obama’s disapproval rating is at an all-time high of 55 percent, taking into consideration a sample of 2,118 registered voters that were surveyed between September 27 and October 3.
A Gallup poll put out in August revealed Obama’s approval rating to be at a then-all-time low, with only 39 percent of Americans saying they were in favor of the president’s job. Less than a month later, surveys from both The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal (in conjunction with ABC News and NBC News, respectively) suggested that the president’s disapproval rating hovered just above 50 percent.
According to the latest poll, this is the most disapproval that Obama has been met with since he entered the White House in Janaury 2009.
Quinnipiac’s study was released within a day of the latest figures to come from the labor Department, who announced today that the number of American filing for unemployment benefits inched up yet again. The latest numbers show that initial claims for unemployment benefits hit 401,000, putting the tally of weeks at or above the 400k figure at 24 of the last 26 weeks.
The Quinnipiac study adds that more than two-thirds of those surveyed believe the country is in currently in a recession, and only 29 percent of those quizzed believe that the economy will improve if Obama is elected to a second term. Currently, the study suggests that only 32 percent of American approve of the president’s current handling of the economy, with double that number — 64 percent — disapproving.
Speaking from the White House this morning, President Obama told reporters that the US economy is “weaker now than it was at the beginning of the year,” and said what it “really needs a jolt right now.” Obama cautioned that worsening conditions in the eurozone could cause the United States’ economy to crash only more.
Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress that even he believed that the US economy is “close to faltering.”
Today’s poll also suggests that, for the first time, Obama is statistically tied with congressional Republicans with concern to how trustworthy Americas feel they are in regards to the economy.