Obama holds 3-point national lead despite economic anxiety

President Obama is clinging to a narrow national lead in his presidential match-up against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, but the national mood on the economy is souring, according to a new poll by The Associated Press released Thursday.

The president leads Romney 47-44 percent in the survey, although that advantage is within the poll's margin of error. Still, the perception remains that the president will be reelected, with some 56 percent of those surveyed predicting Obama will best Romney in November.

That's despite fears on the economy intensifying. Six in 10 Americans say the economy is headed in the wrong direction, versus only 31 percent who believe things are improving — the worst showing since December of 2011.

Only 30 percent say they expect their household's financial situation to get better in the next year, and 63 percent say they believe prices for consumer goods will continue to rise.

The president is also posting his lowest approval numbers on the issue since then, with 44 percent of those surveyed indicating they're satisfied with how the president is handling the economy. Some 55 percent say they disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy. Similarly, a majority disapprove of the president's handling of unemployment for the first time in 2012.

But Mitt Romney has yet to sell the American people on his economic bona fides. The president still edges his Republican challenger by a point when respondents were asked whom they trusted to do a better job on the economy. And although the president's handling of healthcare — and the reform legislation passed earlier in his term — remain unpopular, the president is trusted over Romney on the issue by a 9-point margin.

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