Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

US President Donald Trump has hit a new high on his economic approval ratings in a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS and released Thursday.

The poll found that 56% of Americans say that Trump is doing a good job on the economy.

The result comes on the heels of the announcement that the US economy grew at a much better rate than expected in the first quarter, and Trump's performance on the economy becomes one of his prime selling points for next year's general election.

Trump's previous high mark in CNN polling on handling the economy came in March 2017 when 55% approved. Since then, he's edged above 50% four times, but this is the first time it's been meaningfully over the 50% line.

The economy is the President's best issue tested in the new poll, with his other approval ratings all below 50%. Even among those who disapprove of the way the president is handling his job generally, 20% say they approve of his work on the economy. That's larger than crossover approval for any other issue by 12 points.

The President's approval rating on the economy dipped to 48% earlier this year on the heels of the government shutdown. Since then, Trump has improved his ratings on the economy by double-digits among those under age 35 (up 16 points), non-whites (up 13 percentage points), independents (up 11 points), women (up 10 points) and even Democrats (up 10 points), found the poll.

Trump's approval on health care policy has improved slightly since June 2018, up five points to 38%, his worst approval rating tested in the poll. Slightly more, 42% approve of how he's handling immigration and foreign affairs, and 39% approve of his handling of race relations.

His approval on race relations has increased since September 2017 -- up 6 percentage points -- but the last poll was taken amidst the protesting in the NFL by kneeling, when Trump called for owners to fire protesting players. His increases since 2017 came largely among conservatives, Republicans and whites.

At the same time, Trump's favorability rating has hit its highest point since the 100-day mark of his presidency: 45% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the President.

While 54% continue to hold a negative view, the latest movement marks a 5-percentage point increase since a December 2018 poll. His largest favorability increases come among independents (up 9 percentage points), those with a college education (9 percentage points) and women (8 percentage points).

Half of Americans say Trump is doing a good job keeping the important promises he made during his presidential campaign, steady from October 2018.