What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls - Week Ending August 5, 2017

Positive economic news continues to roll in, but voters aren’t giving President Trump any credit and gave him lower approval ratings this week than they did during his predecessor’s entire presidency.

With unemployment at a 16-year low and the Dow reaching record highs, Americans are more confident than they have been in years that it’s possible for just about anyone to find a job - and even get rich - in America. 

But just 39% of voters give Trump good or excellent marks for the way he is handling economic issues. 

The number of voters who approve of Trump’s job performance sunk to a new low of 38% on Wednesday, a lower rating than any Barack Obama received during his time in office. 

Trump earned a monthly job approval of 43% in July, a three-point drop from 46% in June. 

Voters also are not giving Trump much credit for his efforts in stopping illegal immigration. Illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border has fallen to a 17-year low, but voters don’t think he’s doing any better than Obama handling the nation’s immigration situation in general. 

Most voters now oppose Trump’s proposed border wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.

On legal immigration, Trump this week backed a bill that establishes a merit-based system in which potential immigrants are judged on such criteria as job skills and education level. An April survey found that most Republicans are supportive of such a system, while voters in general are more evenly divided. 

Trump often criticizes the media for what he considers unfair treatment of his administration, but 55% of voters think Trump is his own worst political enemy. In distant second is the national media, cited as his worst enemy by 25%. Still, as nearly always in surveys involving Trump, there’s a sharp partisan difference of opinion.

Voters have plenty of criticism to go around, however. Over half of voters in both major political parties continue to say that they are moving away from the positions of their party's leaders.

Forty-six percent (46%) think it’s fair to say that neither party in Congress is the party of the American people. 

For the third week in a row, 33% think the country is heading in the right direction.

In other surveys this week:

-- Most voters continue to oppose licenses for illegal immigrants in the state they live in.

-- Americans feel more strongly that raising the minimum wage is a good economic move and are more likely to believe it should be a living wage. 

-- Despite the criticism surrounding Trump’s speech at their jamboree last month, the Boy Scouts of America are viewed more favorably among Americans, but still remain slightly less popular than the Girl Scouts. 

-- Senator John McCain’s “rogue” decision to vote against the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare was the topic of this week’s Rasmussen Minute. 

-- Exercising remains an important part of most Americans’ lives, and most report getting active at least once a week.

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