Biden approval rating ticks up as voters rank stronger economy: Poll

President Biden’s approval rating increased modestly as voters give the president higher marks on the economy and jobs, according to a poll Monday. 

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey, shared with The Hill, showed Biden received a 45 percent approval rating, slightly higher than a similar survey conducted in October that showed 44 percent of respondents gave him a thumbs up.  

But those figures are higher than in September when he received a 42 percent approval rating.

The poll found that 44 percent of respondents approved of Biden’s handling of the economy, up from 41 percent last month. Half of those polled approved of his handling of stimulating jobs, up from 49 percent in October.  

The president also saw a 1 percentage-point increase in how respondents rated him on his handling of foreign affairs, administering the government, reacting to COVID-19, dealing with violence and crime in the country and the Israel-Hamas war.

The uptick in Biden’s ratings come as voters in the survey reported better feelings about the economy. According to the poll, 42 percent of voters think the U.S. economy is strong today, the highest since February. Similarly, 30 percent say their personal financial situation is improving — up 6 points since July, according to the poll — and 47 percent say they are optimistic about their life in the next year — up 4 percent since last month, according to the poll.

Still, larger questions remain about whether that will translate into enough support for Biden to clinch a second term.  

“We saw a slight improvement among voters in Biden approval as there were some improved economic numbers. But this has not translated into more support for Biden as there are deep concerns about his age and dissatisfaction with his presidency he has yet to turn around,” said Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll was conducted Nov. 15-16 with 2,851 registered voters. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll.

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Poll and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.