CNBC Survey: Majority of Americans approve of Trump's handling of the economy for the first time

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For the first time since President Donald Trump took office, the CNBC All-America Economic Survey shows more than half the public approving his handling of the economy, and it appears to be having some impact on his overall job approval rating.

The president’s economic approval rating surged 6 points to 51 percent with just 36 percent of the public disapproving, a 6 point drop from the March Survey.

His overall approving rating rose 2 points to 41 percent from the first quarter survey, but the percentage of Americans who disapprove dropped 10 points to 47 percent, the lowest recorded by CNBC during his presidency. Trump’s approval rating remains negative, at minus 6, but it’s also the lowest negative rating recorded since he took office.

The survey suggests that the recent controversy over the president’s decision to separate children from their parents at the border has had little effect either way.

The poll of 800 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, was conducted June 16 thru 19 while the controversy over the separation of children from their parents dominated the news. But any impact on the president’s approval rating is difficult to find in the data. A comparison of the polling conducted Saturday and Sunday with Monday and Tuesday, when the story was more prominent, shows little difference despite considerable public outrage.

“People are so locked in to their partisan views that it’s really hard to move those approval numbers,’’ said Micah Roberts with Public Opinion Strategies, the Republican pollster for CNBC. “The most consistent thing about his presidency is how much people who love him, love him and how much the people who hate him, hate him.”

The poll does show that a 51 percent majority of Americans disagree with the president’s immigration policies, but the level is unchanged from last quarter and last year. It is the worst issue for the president among the issues polled by CNBC.

The rise in the president’s economic approval comes with growth running about a percentage point higher than it did during the Obama presidency, with unemployment near a 20-year low and amid what is believed to be a very strong quarter for growth. That has translated into positive views by the public on the economy that are reaching new records for the survey.