Poll: Romney favorability rating increases

(CNN) -- Mitt Romney received a jump in his favorability rating aided by increased support among female voters, according to a new survey.

The Washington-Post ABC News poll released Wednesday, May 30th, showed 41% of Americans held a positive view of the all-but-certain Republican presidential nominee. Although Romney still trails President Barack Obama's 52%, he experienced a six-point bump from results released just over a month ago.

When broken down by registered voters, Obama and Romney received split results. Forty-nine percent of registered voters saw Obama in a positive light, while 48% did not. When the same group was asked for their opinions of Romney, 44% held a positive view and 44% held a negative one. The new figures were the first time since January that voter attitudes did not shift away from the former Massachusetts governor, according to the poll.

The improving trend mirrored a similar Gallup poll released earlier in May that indicated 50% of Americans polled held a favorable view of Romney, an 11-point jump since February.

Wednesday's figures were helped by momentum among Republican women, 80% of whom said they hold a favorable view of Romney. He received a 59% rating last month.

Although the favorability gap has closed, Romney still failed to generate the same level of enthusiasm among his base as Obama. Nearly six-in-ten Democrats were "strongly favorable" about Obama, while just 35% of Republicans said the same of Romney.

The Washington Post and ABC News polled 1,021 adults via telephone between May 23 and May 27 with a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

CLICK HERE to view Washington-Post ABC News Poll results.

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