Poll: Approval slips for Obama, Congress

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's approval rating slipped for the third month in a row, and Congress is less popular than this Spring, a Harris Poll indicated.

The dip comes at a time when the president is trying to push through major reforms on healthcare, revive the economy, and increase employment, the Harris Poll reported Friday.

In July, 54 percent of U.S. adults asked gave Obama positive ratings, but the number dropped to 45 percent in October, the poll said.

Only 40 percent of independent voters currently give Obama positive ratings on his overall job performance, the poll indicated.

At the time of election, Echo Boomers (those aged 18-32) were some of Obama's strongest supporters, but now they give him only a 51 percent positive rating.

Approval of Congress's performance was sharply lower. Only 16 percent of poll respondents rated the legislature's performance positively, down from 31 percent in May, the poll said.

Sixty-one percent of Americans said they think the country is on the wrong track, the third consecutive month that the number of people who think the United States is going in the right direction has decreased, from 46 percent in August to 39 percent, the Harris Poll said.

The Harris Poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 5-12 with 2,293 adults 18 years of age and older. As a matter of policy, the Harris Poll does not report margins of error.