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Trump's approval rating for U.S. economy at highest level of his presidency

The domestic economy is also the issue for which Democrats gave Trump their highest approval rating.

By Nicholas Sakelaris
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Monday during a conference of state attorneys general. Photo by Alex Edelman/UPI
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Monday during a conference of state attorneys general. Photo by Alex Edelman/UPI | License Photo

March 5 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump's handling of the economy has reached a new high -- 56 percent -- and he also received high marks on 14 other issues, a new Gallup survey shows.

The president's handling of unemployment was recorded at 54 percent and his job approval rating is unchanged since early February, Gallup said in the survey Tuesday. His overall job approval was 43 percent.

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"The president's greatest strength in the view of Americans remains his handling of the economy, although his overall approval rating lags far behind it," Gallup wrote.

Trump's previous high on the economy, 53 percent, came last November.

On North Korea, Trump received a 51 percent approval rating. By contrast, he rated low on Russia (39 percent), race relations (38 percent), government corruption (37 percent) and Syria (35 percent). Democrats' highest ratings for Trump were given for the economy (20 percent) and unemployment (21 percent).

Gallup conducted the survey Feb. 12-28, so the majority of answers were given before Trump's second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, which did not produce a denuclearization deal, and dramatic congressional testimony from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.

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"It is unclear what effect that will have on public evaluations in the coming [surveys]," Gallup stated.

Nine in 10 Republicans said in Tuesday's poll they approve of Trump's overall performance. The president receives the lowest grade from Republicans on Syria, weeks after Trump announced a full U.S. military withdrawal from the war-scarred nation.

Democrats in the poll put Trump's overall job approval at 6 percent, and their scores on 14 other issues range from 5 to 21 percent.

With unemployment still at a historically-low 4 percent, Trump's economic rating has risen 4 percentage points since early February. President Bill Clinton saw economic approval of 81 percent in 1999, the highest since Gallup started tracking the number in the 1980s. President George H.W. Bush saw the lowest rating on the issue -- 17 percent -- on the heels of a recession in 1992. The average rating is 43 percent, a mark Trump has been able to stay above (45 percent is his lowest economic approval) for his entire presidency so far.

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