Trump leads in voter confidence on economy, Biden preferred for democracy

US voters see Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the better candidate for the economy, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll has found.

The same vote on Tuesday showed that US President Joe Biden's scored better with his approach on preserving democracy.

The three-day poll showed that less than five months before the Nov. 5 election, the electorate is divided on the candidates' approach on the issues that respondents view as the top two problems facing the nation.

Biden's approval rating, measured across all respondents in the poll, rose marginally to 37 percent from 36 percent in May when it tied the lowest reading of his presidency.

Many Democrats worry Biden could be stung by voter concerns over his age — at 81 he's the oldest US president to hold the office — and disapproval within his party of his support of Israel's war on Gaza.

When asked which of the two candidates had a better approach for the economy — the No. 1 concern for respondents — registered voters picked Trump 43 percent to 37 percent.

Voters have been stung by several years of fast-rising consumer prices, though inflation has slowed considerably in recent months and the jobless rate has been below 4 percent for more than two years.

The Republican had a more significant edge — 44 percent to 31 percent — on immigration. Trump was favoured 40 percent to 35 percent on foreign conflicts and terrorism.

Biden had an edge over Trump on healthcare policy — 40 percent to 29 percent. Biden was vice president in 2010 when then-President Barack Obama pushed a landmark health reform through Congress that dramatically increased access to health insurance.

Nobel prize-winning economists on Trump

Previous Reuters/Ipsos polls have shown Biden and Trump neck-and-neck in the presidential race, though a number of polls in battleground states have shown Trump ahead in recent months.

The poll, conducted nationwide and online, collected responses from 1,019 US adults, including 856 registered voters. It had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points for all respondents and 3.5 percentage points for registered voters.

Meanwhile, sixteen Nobel prize-winning economists signed a letter on Tuesday warning that the US and world economy will suffer if Trump wins the White House in November.

The jointly signed letter, first reported by Axios, says the economic agenda of Biden, a Democrat, is "vastly superior" to Trump's.

The economists say Trump's economic plans would reignite inflation, in part because of his pledge to impose stiffer tariffs on Chinese imports, which they say will hike prices on many goods bought by US consumers.

"Many Americans are concerned about inflation, which has come down remarkably fast. There is rightly a worry that Donald Trump will reignite this inflation, with his fiscally irresponsible budgets," the letter states.