President Trump's approval rating hits new high as Democratic lead shrinks in tight races, poll says

President Donald Trump's approval rating has reached a new high, even as likely voters favor Democrats by 9 points to lead Congress, a new poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found. 

The poll found that 47 percent of respondents approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 49 percent disapprove. That is the best he has done in the NBC/WSJ poll since taking office. And it represents a major jump in the president's popularity; the same poll found him with a 39 percent approval rating six months ago. 

Although Democrats maintained a sizable lead among likely voters – 50 percent said they would prefer a Democrat-controlled Congress, and 41 percent would like to see the Republicans keep their majority – the poll found that Democrats' advantage disappeared in the most competitive districts. In the hotly contested races, the party preference numbers are closer to even, the Journal reported. 

Independent voters, who will largely determine the election's outcome, favored Democratic majorities by 41 percent to 27 percent. But the Journal pointed out that nearly a third of them remain undecided. 

Republican pollster Bill McInturff told NBC and the Journal that the battle for congressional control of the House is a "barnburner." McInturff conducted the survey along with Democratic pollster Fred Yang and Hart Research Associates.

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"The current data shows that the Democratic advantage has ebbed but still with a large advantage. And the GOP shows some life," Yang told NBC. 

Yang said the poll showed "unprecedented enthusiasm among both parties." Seventy-two percent of Democrats said they had "high interest" in the election, along with 68 percent of Republicans. 

The Journal attributed the rise in Republican interest to the confirmation battle over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Overall, 40 percent of respondents said they approved of Kavanaugh being confirmed by the Senate, while 36 percent opposed his confirmation. An additional 21 percent said they still need to know more about him. 

The economy and jobs were ranked the top concern among those surveyed, with 21 percent saying those were the important factor in determining who they wanted controlling Congress. Health care was the second choice at 17 percent. 

The poll was conducted Oct. 14-17 with a margin of error of +/-3.3 points among registered voters and +/-3.9 points among likely voters.