Obama Approval Index Month-by-Month

Monday, February 01, 2010

When tracking President Obama’s job approval on a daily basis, people sometimes get so caught up in the day-to-day fluctuations that they miss the bigger picture. To look at the longer-term trends, Rasmussen Reports compiles the numbers on a full-month basis, and the results can be seen in the graphics below.

The president’s Approval Index ratings improved a point in December after falling a total of seven points in the preceding three months. The gain was aided by a late-month bounce following the president’s State of the Union address.

This is the third time the president’s Approval Index rating has improved on a full-month basis. The other two were last May and September.

The number who Strongly Disapprove of the president’s performance held steady at 41% in January. The number who Strongly Approve inched up a point to 27%. That leads to a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14.

Also in January, the president’s total approval improved a point to 47%. This is the first time since May that the president’s full-month approval rating has moved up. His total disapproval in January also showed a slight improvement by falling a point to 52%.

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(more below)

2009	Strongly Approve	Strongly Disapprove	Approval Index	Total Approve	Total Disapprove
Jan	43	20	23	62	34
Feb	39	25	14	59	39
Mar	37	30	7	57	42
Apr	35	31	4	55	44
May	35	29	6	57	42
Jun	34	32	2	54	45
Jul	30	37	-7	50	49
Aug	30	39	-9	49	50
Sep	31	39	-8	49	51
Oct	29	39	-10	48	51
Nov	28	40	-12	48	52
Dec	26	41	-15	46	53
2010
Jan	27	41	-14	47	52

Other measures of the president’s performance can be found on the Obama by the Numbers page.

Rasmussen Reports also tracks consumer and investor confidence on a daily basis and support for health care reform on a weekly basis. Currently, Republicans have a modest lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports Election Edge™ Premium Service offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage available anywhere.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 500 likely voters per night. The monthly numbers in this article are based on approximately 15,000 interviews each month with likely voters. The margin of sampling error is less than +/- 1 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

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