Obama's likability, job approval steady

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PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama's favorability ratings remain above his job approval ratings, with both ratings hovering around the 50 percent mark, Gallup said Thursday.

Obama's likability ratings remain just above 50 percent while his job approval ratings were just below the 50 percent mark, as they have been for most of the past 24 months, Gallup said of its review of polling data.

Obama has maintained a 1 percentage point advantage, 47 percent to 46 percent, over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in registered voters' presidential preferences for the last week of Gallup Daily tracking, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Obama has held a higher favorable rating over Romney throughout the 2012 campaign, which is significant because the better-liked candidate has won each election since 1992, Gallup said.

Based on a review of its Daily Tracking data, Gallup said Obama appeared to be better positioned than Romney in voters' evaluations of the two on several attributes, including likability, character and ability to handle most issues. However, Gallup said voters' perceptions of Obama's ability to handle the economy, which poll participants said they thought was his weakest attribute, could be the most consequential in the election.