(HIGH POINT) --  A new High Point University National Poll fielded on the High Point University campus finds that 50 percent of registered voters in the United States approve of President Barack Obama’s job performance – three percentage points more than in a similar national poll fielded prior to the presidential election.

The poll also found that a majority – 56 percent of national registered voters – see the country as being on the “wrong track” rather than going in the “right direction.”  The pre-election national survey had found that 58 percent of registered voters in the U.S. felt the country was going in the wrong direction.

“Our first presidential job approval reading after the election shows no deterioration in the president’s rating and may even show a slight improvement,” said HPU Poll director Martin Kifer. “We’ll be watching in the coming months to see what direction President Obama’s approval ratings move as he starts his second term. The president’s standing with the public holds implications for, among other things, his ability to negotiate with Congress over some relatively high stakes issues.”

This is the first national survey fielded by student interviewers at the High Point University Survey Research Center.