Among independents, Trump leads Clinton 40 percent to 28 percent. | Getty National poll: Trump and Clinton locked in dead heat

Donald Trump has pulled even with Hillary Clinton in the latest national CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday, a month after trailing by six points in the same survey.

Both presumptive nominees earned 40 percent in the weeks heading into their parties' respective conventions, with 4 percent saying they would vote for someone else, 7 percent said they will not vote and 8 percent said they were not sure.


In last month's survey, before FBI Director James Comey called Clinton's handling of classified information via private email "extremely careless" but decided to not recommend prosecution, Clinton led Trump 43 percent to 37 percent. Overall, Clinton has dropped a full 10 points in the survey since April, when she commanded a lead of 50 percent to 40 percent over Trump, whose level of support has largely remained constant over the same period.

Among independents, Trump leads Clinton 40 percent to 28 percent, and the presumptive Republican nominee has expanded his lead by seven points among white voters and has pulled nearly even with the presumptive Democratic nominee among women. The survey, which was largely conducted before Bernie Sanders endorsed Clinton for president, found that 67 percent of Sanders supporters said they would vote for Clinton in the general election, while 9 percent said they would vote for Trump.

On the issues, 52 percent said Trump would do a better job handling the economy and creating jobs, while 41 percent chose Clinton. Voters are split on who would better handle international trade issues, with 47 percent opting for Trump and 46 percent for Clinton, as well as on terrorism and national security, with 46 percent each saying either Clinton or Trump would do a better job. On illegal immigration, Clinton has a slight lead of 48 percent to 45 percent and a much larger 31-point advantage of 60 percent to 29 percent on race relations.

Strong majorities of registered voters supporting either candidate indicated that they have largely already locked in their decision, with 88 percent of Clinton voters responding that their minds are already made up and 90 percent of Trump voters who said the same.

In a three-way race with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, Clinton and Trump remain tied, this time with 36 percent. Johnson earns 12 percent when included.

The poll was conducted by telephone from July 8-12, surveying 1,358 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.