WASHINGTON, May 10: President George Bush has hit a new low in US public opinion, with just 31 per cent of respondents approving of his job performance — one of the lowest ratings ever for a US president, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The poll conducted by the Times and CBS television shows the third-lowest approval rating for any president in the past 50 years, with only presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter viewed less favourably while they were in office, the daily reported.

The poll comes just six months before mid-term elections in which Mr Bush’s Republican Party is battling to maintain control of Congress over resurgent opposition Democrats.

Just 13 per cent of the 1,241 people surveyed by the Times and CBS approved of the way the president is handling rising oil prices, one of the top public concerns.

Mr Bush also scored the lowest ratings of his presidency for his handling of foreign policy, Iraq and the US economy, while only about one-fourth of respondents said they approved of his handling of immigration issues, another new hot-button issue.

Most of the support lost by Mr Bush, including among his once-stalwart conservative base, seems to be over his handling of the conflict in Iraq. The percentage of respondents in the Times/CBS poll who support the invasion fell to a new low of 39 per cent, down from 47 per cent in January.

About two-thirds of respondents surveyed said they had little or no confidence that Mr Bush could successfully end the war.—AFP