Gallup: President Joe Biden grapples with 39% job approval rating at year's end

Dec. 22 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden will enter 2024 with a persistently low job approval rating, according to year-end polling conducted by Gallup.

According to a Gallup December poll, Biden's job approval rating stands at 39%, marking a slight improvement from 37% in November, but it doesn't spell well for his re-election campaign, as this is the fifth time his rating was below 40% in 2023.

CNN's Poll of Polls gave similar numbers, claiming 38% approval and 58% disapproval for Biden in December.

According to Gallup, while Republicans' ratings of Biden have firmly remained in the single digits since August 2021, independents' ratings have varied. After hitting a record-low 27% in November, approval of Biden among independents is up to 34% this month. Democrats' approval of the president is down to 78% from 83% last month.

Americans' confidence in the economy improved slightly in December but remains negative, according to Gallup. About four in five adults rated current economic conditions as only fair (33%) or poor (45%). Only 3% described conditions as excellent, and 19% described it as good. Additionally, 68% of Americans said the economy is getting worse, 28% said it is improving, and 4% think it is staying the same.

During Gallup's latest poll period, Dec. 1-20, the war between Israel and Hamas continued after a late November pause, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Biden at the White House to ask for U.S. aid in his country's war with Russia, and House Republicans unanimously voted to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden.

Biden's current rating is worse than other modern presidents at the same point of their first term in office, according to Gallup. Donald Trump stood at 45% approval in 2019, and Barack Obama had a 43% approval rating in 2011. Every other president since Jimmy Carter had an above-50% approval rating at the time.