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Obama’s Job Disapproval Rating Tops Approval: Chart of the Day

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- As President Barack Obama enters his final drive for congressional passage of health-care reform, the number of Americans who don’t like the job he’s doing has climbed above the level who approve for the first time.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows the convergence in Gallup’s daily tracking polls since the first one was conducted Jan. 21- 23, 2009. Obama’s negative rating was at its lowest level in the first poll and rose to 47 percent today, compared with 46 percent who approve.

The number of Americans saying Obama is doing a good job peaked just after his first 100 days, according to Gallup. That coincided with a party-line congressional vote passing his budget blueprint allowing for fast-track clearance of the health-care overhaul. As opposition mounted during the summer, his rating plumbed new lows.

The Quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll of subscribers also found a decline in Obama’s overall favorability rating one year after taking office. He was viewed favorably by 27 percent of U.S. investors in the poll conducted Jan. 19, 2010, down from 32 percent in October and from 49 percent in July.

Gallup on Jan. 21, 2009, began tracking daily the percentage of Americans who approve or disapprove of the job Obama is doing as president. Each result is based on a three-day rolling average.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Moynihan in Brentwood, Tennessee, at