CBS Poll: Obama rating below 50 percent

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama's approval rating has fallen below 50 percent for the first time in U.S. polling by CBS News.

While 46 percent of those surveyed for the poll released Monday said they approve of the president's job performance, 41 percent said they disapprove. Four out of five Democrats said they approved of the way Obama is handling is job, compared to 13 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of independents.

Analysts said the key issues are domestic ones, with only 41 percent approving of what he is doing on the economy, while 47 percent disapprove. Obama's ratings are even lower on healthcare, with 36 percent approval and 54 percent disapproval.

Obama got higher marks on foreign policy and his response to terrorism with 57 percent saying the administration handled the alleged attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane over Michigan on Christmas Day well.

CBS interviewed 1,216 adults across the country by telephone between Jan. 6 and Jan. 10. The margin of error is 3 percent either way for numbers involving the whole sample with larger margins of error for partisan attitudes.