NEW YORK, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Falling gas prices and a rising stock market have buoyed public approval for U.S. President George Bush up to 46 percent, a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll says.
That represents a 7-percent increase on Bush's economic leadership since June, although a majority of respondents -- 48 percent -- said they were not happy with Bush's economic course compared with 56 percent in June.
Bush's overall job approval rating was 39 percent, with 57 percent disapproving, the Journal said.
Along partisan lines six days before midterm congressional elections, Democrats are favored to win back control of Congress from Republicans by a margin of 52-37 percent, the poll said.
Iraq remains a thorn for Bush, with 54 percent of respondents saying removing Saddam Hussein from power wasn't worth the human and financial costs. That's the highest percentage in the Journal/NBC poll since the war began in March 2003.
The national telephone survey of 1,010 registered voters was conducted Oct. 28-30, and has a 3.1-percentage-point margin of error.
