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The percentage of American voters who disapprove of how President Obama is handling his job is at an all-time high, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released early Thursday that also shows Obama's approval rating among whites and men has dropped below the 40-percent mark.

Today, just 42 percent of voters approve of the job that Obama is doing, while 52 percent disapprove. That is a significant decline from July, when 47 percent of voters approved of Obama, and 46 percent disapproved.

Just a third of white voters approve of Obama, whose approval rating is also anemic among men (39 percent) and independent voters (40 percent).

"Men, whites and independent voters were the president's weak spots when his job approval was positive, and those groups have progressed from being weak spots to being serious problems," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Data from the same poll released Wednesday showed Obama running neck-and-neck with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. In Thursday's release, there is more troubling news for Obama vis-à-vis his Republican challengers: A slight plurality of voters actually trust Romney to do a better job handling the economy than Obama, by a 46 percent to 42 percent margin. Obama has only a slight advantage on Perry on the economy, 43 percent to 41 percent.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Aug. 16-27, surveying 2,730 registered voters. The margin of error is +/- 1.9 percent.