Natalie Gonnella
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With unemployment above 9%, little headway on a 2012 budget, and the looming threat of a potential default, it's not surprising that Americans' confidence in lawmakers has once again taken a hit.
According to Gallup's latest congressional survey only 17% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, a decline of seven percentage points from May's rating and similar to approval numbers posted earlier this spring.
When it comes to party preference, Democrats' continue to offer the most positive marks with 25% approval. However, Independents and Republicans remain far less optimistic giving the 112th Congress approval ratings of only 13% and 14%, respectively.
Overall, in comparison to previous approval trends, Gallup notes that:
The 17% now approving of Congress is just four points higher than the all-time low of 13% Gallup measured in December. Since Gallup began assessing congressional job approval in 1974, there have been only three ratings lower than 17%. All of these -- plus two other 17% ratings -- have been recorded in the past three years, underscoring the recent negative turn in Americans' views of Congress...Further back in Gallup trends, Congress had an 18% approval rating in March 1992 and a 19% rating in June 1979. All of the historical low ratings have come during sluggish economic times in the United States.
The full summary from Gallup's latest approval survey is available to view here.
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