A Wednesday Gallup poll found that a majority, 51 percent, of Americans now say they approve of the way Donald Trump is handling the economy, up from 45 percent in June.
Gallup notes that this marks the first time Trump "has earned majority approval on any issue Gallup has asked about, including four issues measured in February and 10 in June.”
Trump's economic approval rating eight months into office is better than Obama’s 46 percent rating at the same point in his presidency, as well as Reagan’s 44 percent approval rating, and Clinton’s 39 percent.
Since Gallup’s last survey about Trump's handling of issues, “the stock market has reached new record highs and economic growth has picked up, while unemployment remains low.” Gallup explains that “Trump appears to be receiving credit for these positive economic developments, evidenced by his 91% approval rating on the economy among Republicans, 48% among independents and 15% among Democrats.”
‘Each of those partisan approval ratings for his economic performance is significantly higher than his overall job approval rating among the same groups,” they add.
Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, told CNBC last month that Trump stopped rising regulatory costs which he estimated at $890 billion over the eight years of the Obama administration. Holtz-Eakin said that could be helping boost business confidence and investment spending.
Gallup also found that 45 percent of Americans approve of Trump's handling of North Korea, 41 percent approve of his handling of foreign affairs, and 39 percent approve of him on immigration.
The survey was “based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 6-10, 2017, with a random sample of 1,022 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.”
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