Bush Job Approval Hovers Near All-Time Low

Original Link: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/political_updates/president_bush_job_approval

For the week ending July 13, just 33% of Americans say they approve of the way that George W. Bush is performing his job as President. Sixty-four percent (64%) disapprove. No data was released for the week ending July 6 as we did not poll over the holiday weekend.

Last week’s figures are a single point better for the President than his ratings in June. However, during June, the President’s Job Approval ratings fell for the fifth straight month and set a new all-time low for the third straight month.

For the full month of June, just 32% approved of the way the President performed his job. That’s down a single point from 33% in May and down six points from 38% in January.

In June, just 13% Strongly Approved of the President’s performance. Nearly four times as many—47%--Strongly Disapproved. In February 2005, at the beginning of the President’s second term, the number who Strongly Approved (28%) was very close to the number who Strongly Disapproved (33%).

Over the past several months, the Rasmussen Consumer Index has shown a similar trend as consumer confidence fell to record lows. The Rasmussen Employment Index also provided discouraging news. For the first time ever, the number of workers whose firms are laying people off exceeds the number whose firms are hiring.

The President earns approval from 34% of men and 30% of women. Just 65% of Republicans now voice approval for the President, another all-time low.

Rasmussen Reports updates the President's Job Approval on a weekly basis based upon nightly telephone interviews with 500 adults. Weekly results include interviews with 3,500 adults. Full month results are based upon interviews with 15,000 adults. In any review of Job Approval data, the trends are more important than the precise number. Many factors, especially question wording, can impact the particular approval rating percentage.

Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large. Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data by political party affiliation using a dynamic weighting process. Our targets are established based upon survey interviews completed during the preceding three months (a total of 45,000 interviews). For the month of July, the targets are 41.4% Democrat, 31.5% Republican, and 27.1% unaffiliated. For June, the targets were 41.4% Democrat, 31.7% Republican, and 26.9% unaffiliated. For May, the targets were 41.3% Democrat, 31.8% Republican, and 26.9% unaffiliated (see party trends and analysis).