WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating has inched up to nearly 50 percent before the 2020 election year starts, according to a Hill-HarrisX poll released Monday.

Forty-nine percent of Americans surveyed said they approve of Trump's performance in office, up by 3 percent from the previous Dec. 8-9 poll.

In addition, 51 percent of the 1000 voters surveyed across the country expressed disapproval, down from 54 percent in the earlier poll.

According to the survey conducted on Dec. 13-14, 87 percent of Republican respondents support Trump, compared to 22 percent for Democrats and 42 percent for independents.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.