US President Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since the start of his term in recent days as Americans grow increasingly dissatisfied with his handling of the rising cost of living, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The three-day survey, which ended Sunday, shows just 40% of Americans approve of the Republican president’s job, compared to 42% in the Oct. 15-20 poll.

Trump’s approval rating has remained nearly flat — fluctuating only a percentage point or two — since mid-May. However, the percentage of those who say they disapprove of his handling has risen from 52% in May to 57% in the latest poll.

The president won last year’s election by promising to tackle the inflationary boom that had dealt a heavy blow to his predecessor, Joe Biden. However, Americans do not rate Trump’s handling of rising prices and the cost of living very positively. It is indicative that the number of Americans who disapprove of his actions is twice the number of those who approve of the actions of the American president.

Since Trump took office, inflation has risen and the labor market has weakened, prompting the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates.

They are not too worried about the shutdown

The poll also reveals that most Americans are not particularly concerned about the protracted government shutdown, which is the second-longest in US history and has put hundreds of thousands of federal employees on furlough.

Specifically, 29% of the respondents said that they do not care or that they are happy with the shutdown, 20% that they are outraged, while 50% of the respondents answered that they feel disappointed. The majority reported that the shutdown has little or no effect on their daily lives.

Although Trump’s Republicans hold majorities in both houses of Congress, Democrats have blocked spending bills in the Senate, vowing not to budge until Republicans agree to extend health insurance subsidies that expire at the end of the year.

This attitude of the Democrats seems to have broad social acceptance. About 73% of Americans say they want the subsidies to continue, despite warnings that it would increase the budget deficit – almost unchanged from a previous poll earlier in the month.

The poll, conducted online among 1,018 adults nationwide, has a margin of error of ±3 points for the overall sample and ±6 points for the individual Republican and Democratic groups.