Brasília 5/14/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - After falling in four consecutive surveys, the approval rating of the government of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva remained stable in April at 34.6%, the same as March. The president's personal approval rating actually rose slightly, from 59.6% to 60.2%.

On the other hand, the percentage of those interviewed rating government performance as poor rose slightly from 19.4% to 20%.

The survey, which is conducted by the National Confederation of Transportation (CNT) and the Sensus opinion polling organization, found that the principal concerns of the country continue to be unemployment (41.3%) and crime (36%).

The latest survey also registerd an improvement in the Citizen Satisfaction Index (ISC), which closed out the month of April at 50.6, after reaching its lowest point in March (49.9) since Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office. The index measures satisfaction with people's personal, social and economic situation.

According to Clésion Andrade, the CNT president, the survey shows that the president is in the middle ground between a positive rating of 34% and a negative rating of 20% which is a delicate situation. "On one hand there has been a small increase in growth and social assistance, but on the other, unemployment and crime have risen," says Andrade.

The survey showed that most people approve the president's job performance, with 30.6% saying they trust the president, and 20.8% saying they comprehend him. But, 22.5% say they are disappointed, and 12.4% say they do not trust the president.

The CNT/Sensus survey interviewed 2,000 people in 195 locations in 24 states between the 7th and 9th of May. The survey's margin of error is give or take 3 percentage points.

Translator: Allen Bennett