Obama's job approval below 50 percent

PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Barack Obama's job approval rating has dipped below 50 percent for the first time since he was inaugurated as U.S. president, a poll released Friday said.

The Gallup Organization said Obama ranks fourth among post-war presidents in the speed in which they sank to minority approval after Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, who, like Obama, was in his 10th month. All recovered and Clinton and Reagan went on to win second terms.

The most recent Gallup poll found that 49 percent of the U.S. public approve of the way Obama is doing his job. Most of the decline in Obama's popularity came during the summer, Gallup said, fueled by the long and contentious debate on healthcare and the continued economic slump.

Recent daily tracking polls have shown his approval rating at right around 50 percent.

Gallup surveyed 1,533 people by telephone between Nov. 17 and Nov. 19 as part of its daily tracking. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percent either way.