Washington, Dec 15 (IANS/EFE): Support for US President Barack Obama is at its lowest level since he entered the White House in January 2009, but he has more public backing than his top Republican rival, according to a survey released Wednesday.

Forty-nine percent of Americans have an "unfavourable" opinion of Obama, compared with 48 percent who say they have a "favourable" view of him, the ABC/Washington Post poll found.

According to the survey's organizers, this is the first time that unfavourable opinion exceeds favourable opinion since Obama became president, a sharp contrast to the 79 percent approval rating he had a few days before being sworn in.

Despite everything, however, Obama continues to enjoy an advantage over the Republicans vying to take over his job in the November 2012 election.

Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives and the favourite in recent voter surveys, received just a 35 percent favourable rating in this latest poll, compared with a 48 percent unfavourable rating.

The poll conducted by ABC and The Washington Post, which has an error margin of 3.5 percent, was carried out Dec. 7-11 in telephone interviews with 1,012 adults.