February 1, 2024
Most adults still consider the national economy to be in poor shape, but there has been a slight increase in those who have a positive opinion. However, this improvement in the view of the economy has not translated into an improvement in President Biden’s approval ratings.
Thirty-five percent say the national economy is good, up slightly from 30% in an AP-NORC poll conducted in December and 24% in January 2023. The economy is seen as poor by 65%, down from 69% in December and 76% a year ago. Both Democrats and Republicans are more likely to describe the economy as good compared with last January. But, while 58% of Democrats now have a positive opinion of the economy, only 15% of Republicans agree.
Thirty-eight percent approve of Biden’s job performance, including 70% of Democrats and just 7% of Republicans. The public has similar opinions about how the president is handling foreign policy in general, and specifically relations with China, as well as the economy.
Biden’s approval on both his overall job as president and his handling of the economy are similar to the last several months, with his rating on the economy remaining below 40%.
While Democrats overall have positive views of Biden, Democrats ages 18 to 39 are much more negative than older Democrats.
The nationwide poll was conducted January 25-29, 2024 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,152 adults. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.0 percentage points.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (January 2024). “Despite improved views of the economy, Biden’s ratings are unchanged.” https://apnorc.org/despite-improved-views-of-the-economy-bidens-ratings-are-unchanged
