Trump’s Economic Approval Rating Hits Highest Level Ever

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown the American economy into a deep contraction and sent unemployment soaring but Americans approve of President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis.

Approval of President Trump’s handling of the economy rose to 52 percent, the highest level of his presidency, CNBC’s “All America” survey showed Wednesday. That is up from 49 percent in December.

The survey of 800 Americans was taken between Friday and Monday.

Trump’s overall approval rating jumped as well, to 46 percent from 40 percent. That too is the best ranking of the Trump presidency.

Trump is even scoring higher marks from Democrats. His job approval rating rose to 20 percent among Democrats, a record high and up from 8 percent in December.

The high marks are all the more notable because the survey also reveals that ten percent of Americans say they lost their jobs because of the outbreak. Another 16 percent have had their pay cut.

Forty-five percent of Americans rate the economy as poor. Twenty-two percent rate it as “fair,” making for a combined 77 percent taking a dim view of the economy. That’s up 20 points from December and the worst of Trump’s presidency. Such pessimism was common, however, during Barack Obama’s presidency.

The survey’s results show that the economic contraction due to the virus has been severe but Americans remain optimistic. Fifty-one percent say they expect the economy to improve in the next year. Forty-nine percent expect the economy to return to normal in the next few months. Just six percent think the effects of the shutdown will last longer than a year.

 

Only one percent of Americans say they expect to lose their job in the next few weeks, suggesting that Americans think the worst of the shutdown’s damage to the labor market may be over. A further eight percent expect that they will suffer a pay cut in the next few weeks.

Americans are not blaming President Donald Trump for Trump’s job rating rose in the poll, with more Americans approving of his handling of the presidency than disapproving for the first time in the three years it’s been tracked by CNBC. His approval rating jumped to 46% from 40% in December, with a 6-point decline in disapproval to 43%.