Obama's Approval Rating Up

President Barack Obama’s approval rating is nearing 50 percent, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll.

At 49 percent, the rating indicates a 5 percent increase from November. In addition, those who say they disapprove of the job that President Barack Obama is doing has declined by 6 points.

Of those polled, 26 percent said they strongly approve of the President’s performance while 33 percent stated that they strongly disapprove.

The President’s approval rating spiked to above 50 percent surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden in May. Prior to that, the last time the President polled as well as the latest survey was in March.

Obama also places well ahead of Congressional Republicans. When asked whom they hold more confidence in, 50 percent replied the President while 31 percent said Republican lawmakers.

In addition, a clear majority of respondents appeared to indicate that they find Obama likable on a personal level. When asked to rate Obama “as a person,” 76 percent said that they approve as opposed to 19 percent who said they disapprove. 5 percent replied that they had no opinion.

The poll was conducted among 1,015 Americans between December 16th and 18th.

Full results can be seen here.