Sarkozy poll ratings fall on economic worries

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suffered a seven point drop in his approval ratings, due mainly to worries over the economy, said an opinion poll published in the daily Le Parisien on Sunday.

The poll, by the CSA polling institute, showed the percentage of those expressing confidence in Sarkozy falling to 48 percent in January from 55 percent in December, while those expressing no confidence rose by seven points to 45 percent.

It was the first time the survey had shown Sarkozy's approval ratings below 50 percent since his election in May.

"On the one hand, the state of the economy is not what has been hoped for and the worries are about 2008," Stephane Rozes, director general of CSA, told the newspaper.

"Consumer confidence, which is at its lowest point since May 2006, according to (statistics office) INSEE, shows that. At a time when French people are doing their accounts and worrying about price rises, the question of purchasing power has been revived."

The survey of 1,010 people came after data from INSEE on Friday that showed a surprise drop in consumer confidence, clouding the outlook for economic growth in 2008.

Economy Minister Christine Lagarde told French radio on Saturday that inflation would pick up in 2008 due to high oil and agricultural commodity prices, which were unlikely to ease this year.

Rozes also said that heavy media exposure of Sarkozy's private life, notably his relationship with Italian singer and former model Carla Bruni, appeared to have turned many older voters off and posed a potential threat to his popularity.

A separate poll in the weekly Journal du Dimanche showed Sarkozy's centre right UMP party neck-and-neck with the opposition Socialists ahead of municipal elections on March 9 and 16.

The poll, by the Ifop institute showed 33 percent support for the UMP and 32 percent for the Socialists. It found 64 percent of those questioned intended to vote on local issues.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie; editing by Elizabeth Piper)