President Joe Biden’s job approval rating fell to 38% in January, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.

What You Need To Know

  • President Biden's job approval rating fell to 38% in January, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday

  • Biden's approval rating was 40% in December

  • The economy was the top concern among respondents

  • Immigration was also a worry, especially among Republicans

Biden's approval rating was down 2 percentage points from December, as Americans worry about immigration and lingering economic effects from the pandemic.

The economy was the top concern for poll respondents; 22% said they had struggled with inflation and the financial fallout of COVID-19.

Those surveyed cited immigration as the second most important problem facing the U.S. In December, 11% of respondents said it was the top concern, but it jumped to 17% in January. Concern in the most recent poll was especially strong among Republicans, 36% of whom said it was their main worry.

Nearly two-thirds of those polled said the country was headed in the wrong direction, including 47% of Democrats.

The poll comes as House Republicans are seeking to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, saying he has failed to enforce the law in stemming a surge of migrants from illegally crossing into the country. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported last week that agents had encountered 302,034 migrants along the southwest border in December. Democrats have called the impeachment attempt a political stunt.

The president’s declining approval rating also comes as his reelection campaign kicks into high gear against former President and GOP nomination front-runner Donald Trump. A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll in early January found Trump with a 6-point lead over Biden in an election rematch this November.

The new Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online with 1,019 adults from January 26-28.