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- New poll shows Obama's approval rating at 20-month high
- Americans starting to feel positive about economy
- More Americans still disapprove of Obama's job performance than approve
Honolulu (CNN) -- Improving views of the economy have helped hike President Barack Obama's approval rating to a 20-month high, a new CNN/ORC poll showed Tuesday, as markets climbed to record levels at news of an economy in overdrive.
More Americans still disapprove of the job Obama is doing as President. But at 48%, Obama's approval rating is at its highest point in CNN polling since May 2013.
The gains were driven by newfound backing among women, independents and millennials — groups where Obama's approval numbers jumped 10 percentage points from a month ago.
RELATED: Read the entire CNN/ORC poll
Meanwhile, Obama's approval numbers ticked down among men, Republicans and Americans between 35 and 49 years old.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden posted the first selfie to his new Instagram account on Wednesday, April 16 -- and it was with President Barack Obama. The White House Twitter account also posted the photo with a simple caption: "Pals." Click through to see more photos of Biden and Obama together.
Obama is introduced by Biden as he arrives at an event in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, on April 16. In a recent CBS News interview, Obama said Biden "will go down as one of the finest vice presidents in history" and has been "a great partner in everything that I do."
Obama and Biden walk at the White House together after Obama delivered a statement April 1 on the Affordable Care Act.
Obama and Biden meet for lunch at the White House in January.
Obama and Biden have lunch with active duty service members at a Washington restaurant in November.
Obama and Biden meet with House Democratic leaders in the Oval Office of the White House in October.
Biden laughs at the White House in June.
Biden and Obama shake hands at a White House reception in March 2012.
Obama and Biden share a laugh in July 2012 as the U.S. men's basketball team plays a exhibition game in Washington before the Olympics.
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
'Pals': The Obama-Biden partnership
Here's a look at the 44 presidents of the United States. George Washington, the first president (1789-1797)
John Adams, the second president (1797-1801)
Thomas Jefferson, the third president (1801-1809)
James Madison, the fourth president (1809-1817)
James Monroe, the fifth president (1817-1825)
John Quincy Adams, the sixth president (1825-1829)
Andrew Jackson, the seventh president (1829-1837)
Martin Van Buren, the eighth president (1837-1841)
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president (March to April 1841)
John Tyler, the 10th president (1841-1845)
James K. Polk, the 11th President (1845-1849)
Zachary Taylor, the 12th president (1849-1850)
Millard Fillmore, the 13th president (1850-1853)
Franklin Pierce, the 14th president (1852-1857)
James Buchanan, the 15th president (1857-1861)
Abraham Lincoln, the16th president (1861-1865)
Andrew Johnson, the 17th president (1865-1869)
Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president (1869-1877)
Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president (1877-1881)
James A. Garfield, the20th president (March to September 1881)
Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president (1881-1885)
Grover Cleveland, the 22nd president (1885-1889) and the 24th president (1893-1897)
Benjamin Harrison, the23rd president (1889-1893)
William McKinley, the 25th president (1897-1901)
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president (1901-1909)
William Howard Taft, the 27th president (1909-1913)
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president (1913-1921)
Warren G. Harding was the 29th president (1921-1923)
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president (1923-1929)
Herbert Hoover, the 31st president (1929-1933)
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president (1933-1945)
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president (1945-1953)
Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president (1953-1961)
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president (1961-1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president (1963-1969)
Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president (1969-1974)
Gerald R. Ford, the 38th president (1974-1977)
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president (1977-1981)
Ronald Reagan, the 40th president (1981-1989)
George H.W. Bush, the 41st president (1989-1993)
William J. Clinton, the 42nd president (1993-2001)
George W. Bush, the 43rd president (2001-2009)
Barack Obama, the 44th president (2009-present)
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Obama discusses Cuba relations
The approval jump follows a late-quarter jolt in Obama's governing agenda, which gained momentum after unilateral actions on immigration and relations with Cuba. Separate surveys have showed those moves popular among the American people.
Obama: Trip to Cuba not in the works
It all amounts to some welcome good news for Obama, whose unpopularity — despite consistently improving economic conditions — led to widespread losses for his party in November's midterm elections.
Obama: Chance for new outcome with Cuba
Tuesday's poll still reflected pervasive disaffection for Obama: 56% of respondents said the President has fallen short of their expectations, and 49% said his policies would take the country in the wrong direction.
McCain: U.S. rewarding Cuba for bad behavior
The steady economic recovery has posed a conundrum for the White House, which wants some credit for decisions that helped pull the country from last decade's recession. To the frustration of Obama and his aides, polls until recently showed Americans largely pessimistic about the country's financial state, despite solid job growth and a bull market on Wall Street.
In public remarks — even those unrelated to the economy — Obama has touted the latest positive economic sign. But even as the unemployment rate dipped below 6%, a large portion of Americans were still gloomy about the economy.
That's because of how people felt about their own economic standing, which for many still includes stagnant wages or jobs in low-paying service fields.
READ: U.S. economy grows incredible 5%
But as the recovery powers on, and the days of the downturn fade further into the past, Americans appear to have turned the page in their views of the economy.
Tuesday's CNN/ORC poll showed for the first time in seven years, a majority of Americans — 51% — have a positive view of the economy, a sharp increase from the 38% who felt that way in October.
The jump was present in every demographic group — men, women, whites, non-whites, urban, rural — and was largest among Americans who earn less than $50,000 annually.
Americans' increasingly positive economic views parallel a drop in gas prices — a phenomenon most experts say a President has little control over.
And they come as new data show the American economy growing at a surging rate. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that gross domestic product grew at 5% in the third quarter — its fastest pace in more than a decade.
Stocks rose sharply, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 18,000 for the first time ever and the S&P 500 also reaching new heights.
RELATED: Cuba releases Alan Gross, paves way for historic easing of sanctions with Cuba
