Poll: Obama’s ratings up since leaving office

Former President Obama’s overall favorability ratings have improved since leaving office, a new poll finds. 

The HuffPost/YouGov poll found that 50 percent of respondents now approve of Obama’s overall job of president, up from a 48 percent positive rating in December 2016. Obama’s approval rating stayed in the mid-40s for much of his eight years in office. 

Respondents also said by a 2-point margin that they approve of Obama’s record on immigration, up from 15-point margin of people who disapproved during his last full month in office in December 2016. 

People’s view on Obama’s performance on immigration comes as President Trump is working to tighten immigration and build a border wall with Mexico.

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Obama also saw an increase in net approval ratings for his work on health care, from negative 5 percent to 4 percent over the past year, as Trump and the Republican majority Congress have worked to overturn his signature Affordable Care Act. 

The poll shows improvements in favorability on all issues surveyed, including foreign policy and social issues, while Trump’s job approval ratings have hit a new low point of 42 percent after a year of low-rated performance unprecedented among his modern predecessors. 

The HuffPost/YouGov poll surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults from Jan. 10-11 and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.