Biden underwater on economy, jobs, other key issues: poll

Americans are not happy with the way that President Biden is handling the economy, jobs and other issues, according to a new poll from Morning Consult and Politico. 

Only 17 percent of participants surveyed in the poll “strongly approve” of how Biden has handled the economy while 40 percent “strongly disapprove” of the president’s job.

The survey results also showed that the economy and issued related to it were at the top of respondents’ minds. 

Overall, 43 percent of respondents said that economic issues such as taxes, wages, jobs, unemployment and spending were their top issues when voting for members of Congress.  

Forty-six percent of those surveyed said it was more important for the government to address COVID-19, and another 46 percent said the same for the economy. 

Biden received similar levels support as on the economy when it came to his handling of jobs. Only 19 percent of participants strongly approving of his handling of jobs, compared to 34 percent who strongly disapproved. Twelve percent of respondents strongly approved of Biden’s job on immigration, while 41 percent strongly disapproved of the president’s work. 

The latest poll numbers come amid a period of high inflation in the U.S. 

The nation is also struggling to contain the spread of the omicron variant, first discovered in South Africa. The new strain of COVID-19 is believed to be more transmissible than the delta variant. It has now become the dominant strain in the United States. 

Biden did, however, receive slightly better marks for his handling of COVID-19. Twenty-four percent of poll participants said they strongly approved of his job handling the pandemic, and 35 percent strongly disapproved.

Forty-three percent of people who took part in the survey approved of Biden’s performance in office overall compared to 53 percent who disapproved. Four percent said that they did not know or had no opinion. 

Morning Consult and Politico’s poll included 1,998 registered voters and took place between Dec. 18 and Dec. 20. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.