New CNN Poll: Obama Hits All-Time Lowest Approval On Unemployment And Economy

The Hill:

Disapproval of President Obama’s handling of the economy and unemployment is at an all-time high heading into his highly-anticipated speech on his jobs plan next week.

A CNN/ORC poll released Thursday found deep dissatisfaction with the president’s management of the economy; 65 percent of Americans said they disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy, the highest level of disapproval the president has faced on that question in this poll.

Just 34 percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is managing the economy, matching the low point in CNN/ORC’s numbers since Obama took office.

As for the number one issue in the election, jobs, the president also faces the dimmest numbers of his tenure. Sixty-two percent of Americans said they disapprove of Obama’s work on unemployment, while 37 percent said they approve.

A Quinnipiac University poll also released Thursday shows similar dissatisfaction with the president.

The poll found more voters believe Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would do a better job on the economy than Obama. 46 percent said Romney would be better for the economy compared to 42 percent for the president.

Amongst independent voters 49 percent said Romney would do better with only 37 percent trusting the president’s efforts.

On the economy Obama still holds an edge over Congress though. The poll found voters trust the president more than Republican lawmakers to handle the economy by 44 to 41 percent.

49 percent of those surveyed said the economy was getting worse.

Quinnipiac found Obama’s overall job approval rating hitting a new low in their polling with 42 percent. 52 percent of voters disapprove of Obama’s job performance. The numbers are a sharp drop from their July poll when the president held a 47 percent approval rating.

These figures set the stage for the president’s address next Thursday to a joint-session of Congress. Obama will outline his fall jobs agenda in a speech that’s equal parts politics and policy. The White House understands that the president will have to boost his numbers on jobs and the economy if he wants to have a chance in 2012′s election.

To that end, the president’s reelection campaign sought to build anticipation for the speech.

“No matter how things go in the weeks and months ahead, this will be an important challenge for our organization,” Obama wrote Wednesday evening in an email to supporters. “It’s been a long time since Congress was focused on what the American people need them to be focused on.”

The CNN/ORC poll, conducted Aug. 24-25, has a three percent margin of error.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Aug. 16-27 and has a two percent margin of error.