Approval ratings and popularity of both President Barack Obama and the U.S. economy seem to be simultaneously improving, according to a new CBS News poll released Wednesday.
As Americans' views of the economy improve, the president's job approval rating is on the rise as well, climbing up to 46 percent, an increase of seven points from October, while his disapproval rating stayed high, at 48 percent.
Last month, Obama's decisions to take executive actions on immigration and Cuba might have been an important factor in an approval bump because for the first time in five years, more Americans said Obama's economic policies have made things better rather than worse - 38 percent vs. 28 percent, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Last January, Obama's approval rating in the poll was 43 percent, with numbers staying in the low 40s throughout most of 2014. The rise seems to have come mainly from self-described Democrat and independent voters.
"At the start of his seventh year in office and heading into this year's State of the Union address, President Obama's 46 percent approval rating is higher than that of his immediate predecessor, President George W. Bush (28 percent), at a similar point in his presidency," CBS News noted.
"However, Mr. Obama's rating is lower than both Presidents Ronald Reagan (52 percent) and Bill Clinton (65 percent)."
Regarding the economic conditions, 27 percent of Americans declared it to be excellent or good while nearly 50 percent deemed it to be fair. Another 16 percent described it as recovering strongly, with 66 percent maintaining recovery agreement, but "not so strongly."
The Pew poll was conducted Jan. 7-11 and surveyed 1,504 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points, Politico reported.
