Poll: Indies' approval of Obama below 40%

PRINCETON, N.J., July 7 (UPI) -- Only 38 percent of independents say they approve of the job U.S. President Barack Obama is doing, a Gallup survey released Wednesday indicated.

The results mark the first time Obama's approval rating among independents has fallen below 40 percent in a Gallup Daily tracking weekly aggregate, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Overall, 46 percent of American adults said they approve of the job Obama is doing as president, only 1 percentage point above his lowest weekly average, Gallup said. Obama's average weekly job approval rating has not been above 50 percent since the Feb. 8-14 weekly aggregate, but it did reach the 50 percent mark during one tracking period on May.

Eighty-one percent of Democrats said they approve of Obama's performance while 12 percent of Republicans approve, results showed.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews conducted with 3,055 adults as part of Gallup Daily tracking June 28-July 3. The margin of error for the total sample is 2 percentage points. For the sampling of 1,045 independents, the margin of error is 4 percentage points.