President Dilma Rousseff has lost ground among voters on worries about Brazil's faltering economy ahead of the Oct. 5 election, which will likely go to a tighter second-round vote, according to a poll on Friday.
Almost one third of Brazilian voters are not backing any candidate as yet, a sign of widespread discontent with Brazil's political class as a whole, a survey conducted this week by polling firm Datafolha found.
Rousseff is still the favorite to win re-election, but support for the left-leaning president has dropped to 34 percent, from 37 percent in a previous poll a month earlier.
Her main rivals have not made gains on her, though. Aécio Neves of the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party, slipped one percentage point to 19 percent, while Eduardo Campos, the candidate of the Brazilian Socialist Party, fell to 7 percent in the latest poll from 11 percent in May, Datafolha said.
If Rousseff fails to win 50 percent plus one of the valid votes cast on Oct. 5, the election will go to a run-off which could produce an upset. Her lead over Neves in a second-round vote has shrunk to 8 percentage points from 11 points in May.
Pessimism about the economy and worsening expectations regarding inflation and employment have hurt the approval rating of Rousseff's government, the poll showed.
Her negative numbers have grown, with 35 percent of voters saying they would never vote for Rousseff (up from 31 percent a month ago), while Neves' negatives have come down.
Anti-World Cup protests expected during the soccer tournament that kicks off next week in Brazil could further dent Rousseff's popularity and complicate a re-election bid.
The once-booming Brazilian economy is in its fourth year of slow growth and barely grew in the first quarter as investment plunged, reflecting a broad malaise that has stirred recent labor unrest and street protests. [ID:nL1N0OG0JC]
For the first time, Brazilians who fear Brazil's economic situation will worsen (36 percent compared to 28 percent in May) outnumber those who believe it will continue the same (32 percent compared to 41 percent a month ago).
High prices are the main concern: 64 percent of those polled think inflation will get worse, up from 58 percent in May.
Expectations are also deteriorating for unemployment, which has been a success story for Rousseff's government by remaining low despite a slowing economy. Now 48 percent of voters think the jobless rate will rise, compared to 42 percent last month.
The poll showed that the number of undecided voters increased to 13 percent from 8 percent a month ago, and a full 17 percent of those interviewed said they would not vote for any candidate and cast an invalid vote.
Datafolha surveyed 4,337 people between June 3 and June 5. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Source: Reuters
Almost one third of Brazilian voters are not backing any candidate as yet, a sign of widespread discontent with Brazil's political class as a whole, a survey conducted this week by polling firm Datafolha found.
Rousseff is still the favorite to win re-election, but support for the left-leaning president has dropped to 34 percent, from 37 percent in a previous poll a month earlier.
Her main rivals have not made gains on her, though. Aécio Neves of the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party, slipped one percentage point to 19 percent, while Eduardo Campos, the candidate of the Brazilian Socialist Party, fell to 7 percent in the latest poll from 11 percent in May, Datafolha said.
If Rousseff fails to win 50 percent plus one of the valid votes cast on Oct. 5, the election will go to a run-off which could produce an upset. Her lead over Neves in a second-round vote has shrunk to 8 percentage points from 11 points in May.
Pessimism about the economy and worsening expectations regarding inflation and employment have hurt the approval rating of Rousseff's government, the poll showed.
Her negative numbers have grown, with 35 percent of voters saying they would never vote for Rousseff (up from 31 percent a month ago), while Neves' negatives have come down.
Anti-World Cup protests expected during the soccer tournament that kicks off next week in Brazil could further dent Rousseff's popularity and complicate a re-election bid.
The once-booming Brazilian economy is in its fourth year of slow growth and barely grew in the first quarter as investment plunged, reflecting a broad malaise that has stirred recent labor unrest and street protests. [ID:nL1N0OG0JC]
For the first time, Brazilians who fear Brazil's economic situation will worsen (36 percent compared to 28 percent in May) outnumber those who believe it will continue the same (32 percent compared to 41 percent a month ago).
High prices are the main concern: 64 percent of those polled think inflation will get worse, up from 58 percent in May.
Expectations are also deteriorating for unemployment, which has been a success story for Rousseff's government by remaining low despite a slowing economy. Now 48 percent of voters think the jobless rate will rise, compared to 42 percent last month.
The poll showed that the number of undecided voters increased to 13 percent from 8 percent a month ago, and a full 17 percent of those interviewed said they would not vote for any candidate and cast an invalid vote.
Datafolha surveyed 4,337 people between June 3 and June 5. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Source: Reuters
