United States President Joe Biden’s public approval rating fell to an all-time low of 43% this week, according to an opinion poll by Reuters/Ipsos.

The results of the poll, conducted on January 19-20, showed that 52% of adults in the country disapproved of Biden’s performance in office, 43% approved it, and the rest were unsure. The poll from last week had only been marginally better for the President, with 45% approving and 50% disapproving.

The most commonly cited reasons for the slump were noted as concerns over the economy and public health, with inflation hitting a near 40-high in December and the omicron-fuelled COVID wave surging, according to a Reuters report. 

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Biden’s approval rating remained above 50% during his initial months as President. It started declining gradually from mid-August, at the time when deaths from COVID-19 had been on a spike and the Taliban had ousted the US-backed Afghan government.

On Wednesday, the President addressed the nation in a press conference on the completion of one year in office. He acknowledged the common sentiment of frustration and promised to fight the issues accompanying the pandemic and inflation in the coming months. 

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Biden also called on the Federal Reserve to lessen its monetary boosting of the economy by raising interest rates, which would in theory help to reduce inflation.

“Given the strength of our economy, and the pace of recent price increases, it’s important to recalibrate the support that is now necessary,” he said. “Now, we need to get inflation under control.”

The Reuters/Ipsos poll gathered responses from a little over 1,000 adults, including 453 Democrats and 365 Republicans. It has a credibility interval – a measure of precision – of 4 percentage points, Reuters explained.

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Notably, former President Donald Trump had received a far lower approval rating of 37% at the same time in his tenure. 

“The fact of the matter is that we’re in a situation where we have made enormous progress. You mentioned the number of deaths from COVID. Well, it was three times that not long ago. It’s coming down. Everything is changing. It’s getting better,” Biden said at the press conference on Wednesday, reported AP. 

(With inputs from Reuters)