Obama, Congress both losing public support: poll

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama and the US Congress are both seeing a decline in support as rising frustration over the political gridlock in Washington has damaged public faith in them, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released on Wednesday.

Obama's job-approval rating fell to 45 percent, the lowest level since late 2011, showed the poll, conducted on July 17-21 through phone calls with a random sample of 1,000 American adults.

Meanwhile, approval rating for the lawmakers on Capitol Hill slipped to 12 percent, the lowest level in the history of the poll.

A combined 44 percent of the respondents said that they are either "optimistic" or "satisfied" about how the president will do during the rest of his second term in office, down 7 percentage points from January, when he just began his second term.

By contrast, a combined 56 percent of Americans surveyed said that they are either "uncertain" or "pessimistic" about the remainder of Obama's second term, up 8 percentage points since January.

The poll findings came before Obama on Wednesday made the first of a series of speeches seeking to bring economy back in spotlight.

The Republicans, however, were trying to deliver blows to Obama 's priorities and revive the budget battle. House Speaker John Boehner said on Tuesday that spending cuts must accompany any measures to raise the federal government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling.