President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs for a campaign rally in Fort Myers, Florida, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, October 31, 2018. Joshua Roberts | Reuters

Glowing views on President Donald Trump's handling of the U.S. economy have failed to boost his overall approval rating. The trends outlined in two new major polls signal possible trouble for the president's 2020 re-election bid if the economy loses steam. More than half of voters — 53 percent — approve of how Trump is handling the economy, versus 42 percent who disapprove, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. The economic approval rating is the highest the university has measured since Trump took office. Read more: Economists see the Trump economy slowing drastically next year before a possible recession in 2020 Still, only 41 percent of voters said they approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 54 percent said they disapprove. He gets better readings on the economy than any other issue area polled by Quinnipiac, including foreign policy, immigration, gun policy and race relations. A CBS News poll released Tuesday found a similar divergence. It showed only 39 percent of Americans approve of Trump's overall job performance, even as 52 percent back his handling of the economy. About three-quarters of respondents, 74 percent, rated the economy as "very good" or "fairly good."

The gulf between economic outlook and opinions on Trump may come down to poor approval of his personality and behavior — traits such as honesty, leadership and values, according to Quinnipiac's Tim Malloy. "Despite recent market downturns, voters are upbeat on what President Donald Trump has brought to the economy, but underwhelmed by just about every other aspect of the Trump tenure," Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement. "Not honest, not level headed, not empathetic. The surging economy is offset by deep questions about the president's character and conduct." While Trump's Republican Party lost at least 38 House seats and its majority in this month's midterm elections, the president has a good chance of winning a second term. The Electoral College system works in the president's favor, as he won the presidency in 2016 despite getting a smaller share of overall votes than Democrat Hillary Clinton. Traditional swing states Ohio and Florida look favorable to Trump — despite states he won such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona tilting toward Democrats in this month's elections. Trump has also used headline economic figures — solid jobs growth, the lowest unemployment rate in decades and quarterly gross domestic product growth above 3 percent — as the main evidence of his success in the White House. Voters largely believe Trump has handled the economy well, but the president rarely goes higher than 45 percent in approval rating polls. As concerns about an economic slowdown spread, Trump could potentially lose his main selling point ahead of his re-election bid. Pockets of Wall Street have started to forecast more sluggish economic growth in the near future. Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, wrote Sunday that "growth is likely to slow significantly next year, from a recent pace of 3.5 percent-plus to roughly our 1.75 percent estimate of potential by end-2019."