Obama ratings sink on economic doubts, worries

The percentage of Americans who
approve of Obama's job performance dropped from 50 a month ago to 47,
his lowest level since early January. The number who think the country
is on the wrong track rose 6 percentage points in a month to 63 percent.

The
doubts about Obama's leadership helped Romney pull to within 1 point of
the Democratic president in the White House race - 45 percent to 44
percent - among registered voters with less than five months to go
before the November 6 election. Obama led by 7 points a month ago.

The
poll was mostly taken after Obama suffered several recent campaign
setbacks, including a weak jobs report in May and an optimistic comment
on the good health of the private sector that critics say showed he was
out of touch.

The gains for Romney
also came as public worries deepened over the European debt crisis and a
slowing recovery created a cloud of uncertainty about the U.S. economy.

"The
economy is going through a rough patch, and that more than anything is
going to determine President Obama's future," said Ipsos pollster Chris
Jackson. "People's unhappiness with the economy carries over pretty
directly to the president's numbers, and we see those weakening."

Romney
now leads Obama 46 percent to 43 percent among all registered voters on
the question of which candidate would be stronger on jobs and the
economy. That reversed Obama's 2 point edge on the question last month.

Romney,
a former Massachusetts governor who once led a private equity firm, has
made his business experience the centerpiece of his campaign and says
he would be better than Obama at restoring jobs.

Obama's
campaign has criticized Romney's work at Bain Capital, saying the firm
plundered companies and eliminated jobs to maximize profits.

PROBLEM WITH INDEPENDENTS

Obama's
approval ratings took their biggest dip among independent voters, who
could be crucial to the ultimate outcome of the election in November.
Approval for Obama among independents fell from 48 percent to 35
percent.

"Independents are
especially susceptible to economic pressures, which is why we see them
bouncing all over the place in their approval of the president," Jackson
said. "The finding that he is not doing that well with them this month
is something for Obama to worry about."

The
telephone poll, conducted Thursday through Sunday, mostly followed a
rough week for Obama's campaign capped by his remarks on Friday that the
private sector of the economy was "doing fine."

Obama
later backtracked and said it was clear the economy was not doing fine,
but Romney and other Republicans said the remarks were evidence Obama
was "out of touch."

The poll found
a large majority of Americans, 70 percent, think Congress has done more
harm than good for the struggling economy. Obama gets slightly better
marks, with 50 percent of Americans thinking he has done more to help
the economy than hurt it, and 44 percent thinking he has done more to
hurt it.

Members of the two
parties largely blame the other for the economic difficulties, with
independents split on which party is most to blame.

Jackson
said those numbers were a reflection of the poor overall marks for
Congress, which most polls show has much worse approval ratings than
Obama.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey, conducted over landlines and cell phones, had a margin of error of 3 percent for registered voters.