Trump approval rating for handling economy slips to 48 percent: poll

The number of Americans who approve of how President Trump is handling the economy has decreased to its lowest level since September amid the coronavirus pandemic, the latest SSRS/CNN poll reveals.

Forty-eight percent of Americans said they approved of how Trump was handling the economy, down from 54 percent when the same question was asked in March. It’s the first time since September and just the second time in the past year the number has dipped below 50 percent.

The percentage of Americans who believe that the economy is either in “somewhat poor” or “very poor” shape skyrocketed 30 points, to 60 percent, the highest since 2014.

About two-thirds of those polled said that the current economic hardship caused by the pandemic is only temporary, though 80 percent said that the worst of the outbreak is yet to come.

Despite three stimulus packages, just one of which totaled $2.2 trillion, America’s economy has continued slow, with many businesses closed and almost all Americans under some form of stay-at-home order to try to stem the spread of the virus. The White House earlier in the month extended its social distancing guidelines through the end of April, though Trump has been adamant about wanting to restart the nation’s economy as soon as possible.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, Trump touted the strength of the economy as a major selling point for his re-election campaign, claiming credit for low unemployment and a strong stock market.

The poll was conducted April 3-6 and surveyed 1,002 adults and has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.7 percentage points.