Poll: Mood over economy plagues Obama

PRINCETON, N.J., May 16 (UPI) -- Several indicators of the U.S. economic and political climate could be troublesome for President Obama heading into the fall presidential election, Gallup said.

Polling indicated Obama's approval rating is below 50 percent while respondents' satisfaction with the country's direction was just above 20 percent and the economy remains a dominant concern, Gallup said Wednesday.

While the indicators are higher now than last summer when public confidence in Obama and the economy were at low points for this administration, they barely returned to their levels before the last summer's lows.

Obama's 47 percent job approval average in early May is nearly the same as the average in 2004 when George W. Bush won re-election, Gallup said.

The 24 percent of Americans who said they are satisfied now is most similar to the 20 percent recorded in May 1992 during George H.W. Bush's one and only term, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.

Sixty-six percent mentioned one or more economic concerns, Gallup said.

Results for the U.S. satisfaction and Most Important Problem survey are based on nationwide interviews conducted with 1,024 adults conducted May 3-6. The May 2012 results for Obama's job approval rating are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 3,653 adults conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking May 7-13. The margin of error is 2 percentage points.