President Joe Biden's approval rating bounced higher over the past month, helped by lower gas prices and a series of legislative wins, a new IBD/TIPP Poll finds. Younger Americans, in particular, rallied around Biden following approval of the climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act and his decision to forgive up to $20,000 in college loans.
Biden's approval rating jumped 6.6 points to 49, the highest since April. The IBD/TIPP presidential job approval measure indicates that 49% of adults who stated an opinion approve of Biden's job performance and 51% disapprove, in a measure that excludes those who were unsure or declined to state an opinion.
Including the full survey group, 46% of American adults approve how Biden is handling the presidency, and 48% disapprove. That net -2 approval rating improved from August's -14, with 39% approval and 53% disapproval. It also marks an improvement from July's -9, with 40% approval and 49% disapproval, as well as June's -12 with 37% approval and 49% disapproval.
Biden Approval Rating Details
The bounce in Biden's approval rating came as his standing among independents improved from dire levels. Net disapproval of Biden narrowed to 21 points among independents from 36 points in August. Now, 57% of independents pan Biden's job performance and 36% approve. That compares with 62%-26% in August and 60%-26% in July.
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Members of Biden's own party now approve of his job performance by a 76% to 17% margin, improving from 70%-19% in August, 72%-19% in July, and 66%-22% in June.
Republicans disapprove 86%-11%, a modest improvement from 89%-8% in August and 85%-9% in July.
Adults 18-44 now approve of Biden's handling of the presidency by a 51%-40% margin. Biden's net approval of 11 points among younger Americans reversed from net disapproval of 11 points in August. At that time, just 40% approved and 51% disapproved of his job performance.
Biden is still underwater among adults 45 and over, with 42% approval and 54% disapproval. That's still better than August, when 39% approved and 56% disapproved.
Biden's move to forgive a portion of federal college loans probably contributed to his polling bounce, but it's not clear how much. College grads now approve of Biden's job performance 56%-41% vs. 51%-43% in August.
Among those with some college, Biden's approval rose to a still-negative 44%-49% from 37%-54%. Among those with no more than a high school degree, Biden's approval bounced but remained low at 38%-54%, from 28%-62%.
Approval Of President Biden's Policies
Net disapproval of Biden's economic policies narrowed to 14 points from 27 points. Now adults disapprove of Biden's economic policies 47%-33% vs. 54%-27% in August. Independents still widely disapprove, 53%-22%.
All signs point to inflation as a major source of Biden's poor reviews. U.S. employers added 9.7 million jobs in the first 19 months of Biden's presidency, including 315,000 last month, Labor Department data shows. Meanwhile, the average hourly wage has grown a strong 5.2% over the past year. Yet inflation has eaten away all of that increase and more for many Americans.
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The IBD/TIPP Poll finds that just 22% of adults say their wages have kept pace with inflation, while 51% say they haven't kept pace. Meanwhile, 90% of Americans are concerned about the path of inflation over the next 12 months. The share of Americans who think the U.S. economy is in a recession slipped to 59% from 62% in August.
The IBD/TIPP Financial-Related Stress Index dipped 0.9 point to 67.6 in August. That's still not far off April 2020's 69.8 record high in polling going back to December 2007. Readings above 50 mean financial stress is rising.
Approval of Biden's handling of the pandemic improved to 45%-34% from 42%-37%, with both cases and hospitalizations on the wane.
Americans now disapprove of Biden's handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict by a 40%-35% margin, a modest gain from August's 43%-32% poll result. Polling came ahead of weekend news that Ukraine has seized back large portions of occupied territory .
Biden Gets Bounce Among Investors
Investors now approve of Biden's job performance 56%-41%, a big leap from August's disapproval of 49%-47%. That's despite a rough ride for stocks in recent weeks, since Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell signaled interest rates would stay higher for longer.
However, market sentiment has improved ahead of Tuesday's consumer price index report, which should show a second month of tame inflation, though the annual inflation rate may only ease to about 8%.
IBD/TIPP counts as investors those respondents who say they have at least $10,000 in household-owned mutual funds or equities.
Through Friday, the Dow Jones was down 11.5% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 had lost 14.7% and the Nasdaq 22.6%. Since Election Day on Nov. 3, 2020, the Dow is up 17%, the S&P 500 20.7% and the Nasdaq 8.5%.
Be sure to read IBD's The Big Picture column after each trading day to get the latest on the prevailing stock market trend and what it means for your trading decisions.
Biden's big problem is among non-investors, who tend to be hit harder by inflation. Non-investors now disapprove of Biden's job performance, 51%-42%, an improvement from 56%-35% in August.
The September IBD/TIPP Poll reflects online surveys of 1,277 adults from Sept. 7-9. The results come with a credibility interval of +/- 2.8 points.
Please follow Jed Graham on Twitter @IBD_JGraham for coverage of economic policy and financial markets.
