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August 22, 2005 George W Bush's Job Approval Ratings Drop George W Bush's overall job approval ratings have dropped from a month a go even as Americans who approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president are turning more optimistic about their personal financial sit uations according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 36% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the e conomy, 33% approve and 62% disapprove. Among Americans registered to vote, 38% approve of the way Bush is handli ng his job as president and 56% disapprove, and 36% approve of the way B ush is handling the economy and 60% disapprove. This is the second month in a row when improving economic ratings have no t been matched by higher job approval ratings for Bush. A total of 24% o f Americans now say their personal financial situations are getting bett er, up from 17% in July, and 27% say they believe that their personal fi nancial situations will be better off a year from now, which is up from 21% in July. The increases in the personal financial ratings, however, are coming main ly from those approving of the way Bush is handling his job. A total of 54% of those approving the way Bush is handling his job say their person al financial situations are getting better, compared to 5% of those sayi ng they disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job, and 61% of those saying they approve of the way Bush is handling his job say they expect to be better off a year from now, compared to 6% of those saying they d isapprove of the way Bush is handling his job. The results presented here are based on 1,100 completed telephone intervi ews conducted among a nationwide random sample of adults 18 years and ol der. The interviews were completed August 18 through 21, 2005. The theor etical margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus 26 percent age points, 95% of the time, on questions where opinion is evenly split. Overall, 36% of Americans say that they approve of the way George W Bush is handling his job as president, 58% disapprove, and 6% are undecided. Bush job approval Approve Disapprove Undecided Aug 2005 36% 58% 6% July 2005 42% 52% 6% Jun 2005 42% 53% 5% May 2005 43% 51% 6% Apr 2005 44% 50% 6% Mar 2005 47% 48% 5% Feb 2005 49% 45% 6% Jan 2005 51% 44% 5% Dec 2004 50% 45% 5% Nov 2004 51% 43% 6% Oct 2004 45% 47% 8% Sep 2004 45% 48% 7% Aug 2004 43% 50% 7% Among Republicans (35% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 77% a pprove of the way Bush is handling his job and 18% disapprove. Among Dem ocrats (37% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 15% approve and 81% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job. Among Independents (28% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 21% approve and 72% di sapprove of the way Bush is handling his job as president. Overall, 33% of Americans say that they approve of the way George W Bush is handling the economy, 62% disapprove, and 5% are undecided. Among re gistered voters, 36% approve and 60% disapprove of the way Bush is handl ing the economy. Bush handling the economy Approve Disapprove Undecided Aug 2005 33% 62% 5% July 2005 38% 54% 8% Jun 2005 37% 59% 4% May 2005 37% 57% 6% Apr 2005 38% 56% 6% Mar 2005 41% 53% 6% Feb 2005 42% 51% 7% Jan 2005 44% 50% 6% Dec 2004 44% 50% 6% Nov 2004 45% 50% 5% Oct 2004 40% 53% 7% Sep 2004 43% 51% 6% Aug 2004 42% 52% 6% Among Republicans, 73% approve of the way Bush is handling the economy an d 25% disapprove. Among Democrats, 83% disapprove of the way Bush is han dling the economy and 14% approve. Among Independents, 19% approve and 7 4% disapprove of the way Bush is handling the economy. A total of 29% of Americans say that the national economy is getting bett er, 17% say it is staying the same, and 53% say the national economy is getting worse. National economy Getting better Staying the same Getting worse Undecided Aug 2005 29% 17% 53% 1% July 2005 25% 33% 41% 1% Jun 2005 22% 17% 58% 3% May 2005 19% 20% 59% 2% Apr 2005 25% 21% 53% 1% Mar 2005 27% 25% 46% 2% Feb 2005 30% 28% 39% 3% Jan 2005 36% 25% 37% 2% Dec 2004 31% 29% 39% 1% Nov 2004 29% 30% 40% 1% Oct 2004 24% 26% 50% - Sep 2004 29% 24% 47% - Aug 2004 42% 26% 32% - Among those saying they approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 71% say getting better, 14% say staying the same, and 14% say getting worse. Of those saying they disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job, 77 7% say getting worse, 3% say getting better, and 19% say staying the sam e A total of 31% of Americans say they believe the national economy will be better a year from now, 23% say it will be the same, 44% say it will be worse, and 2% are undecided. National economy a year from now Better than today The same as today Worse than today Undecided Aug 2005 31% 23% 44% 2% July 2005 25% 31% 42% 2% Jun 2005 26% 18% 50% 6% May 2005 21% 21% 51% 7% Apr 2005 27% 25% 44% 4% Mar 2005 30% 27% 38% 5% Feb 2005 38% 31% 25% 6% Jan 2005 44% 26% 25% 5% Dec 2004 37% 33% 25% 5% Nov 2004 41% 29% 23% 7% Oct 2004 47% 28% 19% 6% Sep 2004 45% 22% 13% 20% Aug 2004 52% 13% 15% 20% Among those saying they approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 73% say better and 16% say they same as today. Among those saying they disap prove of the way Bush is handling his job as president, 3% say better, 2 3% say the same, and 72% say worse. Overall, 29% of Americans say they believe that the national economy is i n a recession and 50% say they do not believe the economy is in a recess ion. National economy in a recession Yes No Undecided Aug 2005 29% 50% 21% July 2005 28% 53% 19% Jun 2005 44% 45% 11% May 2005 35% 57% 8% Apr 2005 36% 59% 5% Mar 2005 33% 63% 4% Feb 2005 28% 68% 4% Jan 2005 25% 72% 3% Dec 2004 30% 68% 2% Nov 2004 36% 61% 3% Oct 2004 29% 64% 7% Sep 2004 25% 66% 9% Aug 2004 20% 78% 2% Among those saying they approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 6% s ay the national economy is in a recession and 91% say is it not in a rec ession. Of those saying they disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job, 47% say the national economy is in a recession, 20% say the nationa l economy is not in a recession, and 33% are undecided. A total of 42% of Americans rate the national economy as excellent, very good, or good and 55% rate it as bad, very bad, or terrible. National economy Excellent Very good Good Bad Very bad Terrible Undecided Aug 2005 2% 7% 33% 29% 17% 9% 3% July 2005 1% 4% 43% 37% 9% 5% 1% Jun 2005 1% 5% 29% 44% 6% 13% 2% May 2005 1% 2% 31% 45% 6% 13% 2% Apr 2005 1% 1% 35% 46% 2% 14% 1% Mar 2005 1% 1% 39% 42% 5% 11% 1% Feb 2005 1% 2% 40% 39% 2% 15% 1% Jan 2005 1% 3% 44% 36% 3% 12% 1% Dec 2004 1% 1% 45% 38% 5% 9% 1% Nov 2004 1% 4% 42% 43% 2% 7% 1% Oct 2004 - 7% 40% 41% 2% 8% 2% Sep 2004 - 12% 38% 40% 2% 6% 2% Aug 2004 - 7% 56% 27% 3% 6% 1% Among those saying they approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 85% say excellent, very good, or good and 14% say bad, very bad, or terrible . Among those saying they disapprove of the way Bush is handling his jo b, 82% say bad, very bad, or terrible and 15% say excellent, very good, or good. When it comes to rating their household financial situations, 64% of Amer icans give an excellent, very good, or good rating and 35% give a bad, v ery bad, or terrible rating. Household financial situation Excellent Very good Good Bad Very bad Terrible Undecided Aug 2005 9% 12% 43% 23% 5% 7% 1% July 2005 6% 15% 38% 26% 4% 10% 1% Jun 2005 5% 8% 33% 33% 6% 13% 2% May 2005 2% 6% 36% 34% 9% 11% 2% Apr 2005 4% 8% 41% 27% 4% 15% 1% Mar 2005 3% 11% 44% 24% 3% 13% 2% Feb 2005 2% 12% 47% 22% 4% 10% 3% Jan 2005 4% 12% 53% 20% 3% 7% 1% Dec 2004 7% 10% 50% 24% 2% 5% 2% Nov 2004 6% 11% 49% 22% 5% 5% 2% Oct 2004 6% 9% 50% 24% 5% 3% 3% Sep 2004 5% 12% 48% 21% 6% 4% 4% Aug 2004 4% 15% 66% 11% 4% - - Among those saying they approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 87% say excellent, very good, or good and 12% say bad, very bad, or terrible . Among those saying they disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job , 49% say bad, very bad, or terrible and 50% say excellent, very good, o r good. A total of 24% of Americans say they think the ...
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