President Barack Obama's approval rating dropped a point in Thursday's three-day rolling Gallup average. And Gallup's Economic Confidence Index held steady at -35, which is still at its worst levels since late 2011.

Obama's approval rating fell a point to 43%. His disapproval rating went up a point to 50%. Those numbers are comparable to the 43-50 split he saw right before the federal government entered into a partial shutdown on Oct. 1, in the Sept. 26-28 rolling average.

Earlier this week, the Economic Confidence Index saw its biggest plunge since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

There were signs of potential breakthrough in Washington on Thursday, as House Republicans are prepared to extend the nation's ability to borrow to pay its bills for six weeks. But their bill would do nothing to end the standoff on the government shutdown, which entered its 10th day on Thursday.

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