Bush job rating hits record low in NBC/WSJ poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's approval rating has dropped to 29 percent in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday, his lowest mark ever in that survey, which also found only 23 percent approved of the job Congress was doing.

Bush's approval rating slid 6 points from 35 percent in April, NBC said, citing a decline in support within his own Republican Party. Sixty-six percent said they disapproved of Bush's job performance.

In the poll, 62 percent of Republicans approved of Bush's job performance, down from 75 percent in April. Thirty-two percent of Republicans in the latest poll disapproved of Bush's performance, up from 21 percent in April.

NBC tied the drop in Republican support to Bush's efforts to promote an immigration reform measure that many conservative Republicans oppose. Polls have also shown a decline in Bush's popularity due to the war in Iraq.

The latest poll also found Americans growing more discontented with the Democratic-led Congress, with 64 percent disapproving of Congress' job performance. Only 23 percent approved, down 8 points since April.

Sixty-eight percent believe the United States is on the wrong track. Only 19 percent believe the country is headed in the right direction -- the lowest number in nearly 15 years, NBC said.

The poll of 1,008 adults conducted from Friday to Monday had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.