Six in 10 Americans approve of the job Joe Biden is doing as president of the United States, especially his successful handling of the new stimulus package and the COVID-19 pandemic now less threatening than when he took office on January 20.
The March 17 to 18 national opinion poll from Reuters/Ipsos found 59% of adults in the United States approve of Biden's overall job performance. On the other hand, 35% (mainly Republicans) disapproved while 6% said they aren't sure.
The poll shows the number of adults that approve of Biden rose four percentage points compared to a poll taken in late January. Analysts said the increase is due largely to an jump in Biden's popularity among Independents.
Six in 10 Independents said they approved of Biden in the March 17 to 18 up from five in 10 who held this opinion in January.
The poll reveals Americans are most satisfied with Biden's handling of the country's successful economic and healthcare response to the raging COVID-19 pandemic now in its first year.
It shows 52% of the country approves of Biden's stewardship of the U.S. economy. The Senate passed the Democrat's $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill on March 7 while the House did the same on March 10. Biden signed the bill into law on March 11.
The law includes $1,400 direct payments to most Americans and their dependents, an extension of the $300 per week jobless aid supplement, and a child tax credit expected to lift millions of Americans out of poverty. Americans have begun receiving the $1,400 cash payments.
Biden said the relief package will rebuild "the backbone of this country."
A Pew Research Center poll earlier this month found 70% of American adults surveyed expressed support for the relief bill, including 41% of Republicans.
Sixty-five percent of Americans said they approved of Biden's handling of the pandemic.
Biden's strong approval numbers were bolstered by the widespread vaccinations taking place throughout the country. The rapid vaccination pace meant the U.S. met Biden's goal of administering 100 million doses this Friday, well ahead of the original April deadline.
The United States has been so successful at securing vaccines that Biden has started to make plans for supplying other countries such as Mexico and Canada with doses of the Astra Zeneca-Oxford vaccine.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,005 adults, including 456 Democrats and 374 Republicans. The poll has a margin of error or a credibility interval, which is a measure of precision, of four percentage points.
