The poll, commissioned by the National Confederation of Industries (CNI), showed the approval rate has slipped seven points since the last survey taken in November 2013, when it registered 43 percent.

　　The share of respondents who said the administration of President Dilma Rousseff was doing a "bad" or "very bad" job totaled 27 percent, up from 20 percent in November, while 36 percent said it was doing a "so-so" job, up slightly from 35 percent in the previous poll.

　　One percent of interviewees did not have any opinion on the matter.

　　The president's personal approval rating fell from 56 percent in November to 51 percent in March, with a portion of the electorate who disapproved of Rousseff's performance rising from 36 percent to 43 percent in the same period.

　　Her approval rating fell sharply after widespread anti-government protests broke out in June 2013, but had been rising steadily since September.

　　Rousseff, however, still leads the list of presidential candidates in the upcoming elections.