For the week ending May 9, just 32% of Americans approved of the way the George W. Bush performed his role as President. That’s down two percentage points from last week and the lowest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports. The decline in the President’s ratings come as the Rasmussen Consumer Index also hovers around record lows—72% of Americans believe that economic conditions are getting worse.

Sixty-five percent (65%) disapprove of the President’s Performance, up two points from a week ago.

The weekly figures include 13% who Strongly Approve and 47% who Strongly Disapprove.

The weekly figures also represents a two-point decline from the numbers recorded during the full month of April. During that month, 34% of Americans gave the President their approval. That too was an all-time low, the lowest full-month approval rating ever for the President measured by Rasmussen Reports. For the full month, just 14% Strongly Approved of the President’s performance while 46% Strongly Disapproved.

Prior to this month, the President’s lowest approval rating was 35%, recorded in June, 2007. In two other months, his approval has been as low as 36% (May 2007 and March 2008).

Sometimes it is difficult to keep the ratings in perspective. In February 2005, at the beginning of the President’s second term, the number who Strongly Approved (28%) was very close to the number who Strongly Disapproved (33%). Now, three years later, just 14% Strongly Approve while more than three times as many—46%--Strongly Disapprove.

The President earns approval from 37% of men and 32% of women. He also earns approval from 70% of Republicans, 11% of Democrats, and 28% of those not affiliated with either major party.

Also in April, as the President’s Approval Rating slipped, the number of Americans who consider themselves to be Democrats remained near the highest levels ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports.

Rasmussen Reports updates the President's Job Approval on a weekly basis based upon nightly telephone interviews with 500 adults. Weekly results include interviews with 3,500 adults. Full month results are based upon interviews with 15,000 adults. In any review of Job Approval data, the trends are more important than the precise number. Many factors, especially question wording, can impact the particular approval rating percentage.

Now that John McCain has become the presumptive Presidential nominee of the Republican Party, Rasmussen Reports will update the President’s Job Approval Ratings on a weekly basis rather than daily. Presidential Tracking Poll updates, measuring the prospects for Election 2008, will continue on a daily basis. Rasmussen Reports will also continue providing daily updates of consumer and investor confidence. Other results, including state polling data, issues polling, and current events will be featured daily on the Rasmussen Reports home page. For other insights and analysis, see the Rasmussen Reports Political Commentary page.

Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large. Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data by political party affiliation using a dynamic weighting process. Our targets are established based upon survey interviews completed during the preceding three months (a total of 45,000 interviews). For the month of May, the targets are 41.3% Democrat, 31.8% Republican, and 26.9% unaffiliated. In April, the targets were 40.5% Democrat, 32.3% Republican, and 27.2% unaffiliated. For March, the targets were 38.8% Democrat, 33.0% Republican, and 28.1% unaffiliated (see party trends, analysis and history).