Poll: Obama-Romney race close

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Americans are concerned about President Obama's handling of the economy in a tight race between him and Republican Mitt Romney, a Washington Post poll showed.

The race between Obama and Republican challenger Romney remains close among likely voters, with Obama at 49 percent and Romney at 48 percent, basically unchanged from polling before the party national conventions, results of the Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday indicated.

A wider sample of all registered voters indicates Obama tops Romney, 50 percent to 44 percent, and has the lead on key campaign issues, results indicated.

Obama was ahead of Romney for eight of 15 attributes presented to survey participants, the Post said.

Compared with the Washington Post-ABC News survey taken before the Democratic convention, voters' assessments of Obama's job performance remained essentially unchanged, with 48 percent approving and 50 percent disapproving. Also unchanged is the concern about Obama's handling of the economy, with 53 percent saying they disapprove.

Forty-three percent of voters said they think the economy has worsened since Obama took office, while 32 percent said it has improved, results indicated. The rest say it has stayed about the same.

Results are based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,002 adults, including 826 registered voters, conducted Friday through Sunday. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.