Rasmussen: Obama overtakes Romney in national tracking poll

President Obama has overtaken Mitt Romney in the latest national survey from conservative polling outlet Rasmussen.

Obama leads Romney 47 to 45 percent in the daily tracking poll released Monday.

It’s only the second time in the last two months that Obama has reached the 47 percent mark, according to Rasmussen, and only the second time in the last month the poll has shown Obama in the lead.

“President Obama appears to be enjoying a bounce in the polls following last Friday’s jobs report,” Rasmussen noted.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday the economy added 163,000 jobs in July, more than economists expected and more than the economy added in May and June combined, although the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent.

The Rasmussen poll is in line with most other major national polls conducted over the last month. Obama now leads Romney by 3.4 percentage points, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.

In addition to Obama’s jump in the head-to-head match-up with Romney, the president also got a bump in his approval rating. Forty-eight percent of those polled by Rasmussen said they at least somewhat approve of the president’s performance. That’s up from 44 percent last Thursday, before the latest unemployment report was released. 

Obama’s job approval rating is still underwater, according to Rasmussen, with 50 percent saying they at least somewhat disapprove of the president’s performance.

The Rasmussen tracking poll has a 3-point margin of error.

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