WASHINGTON: Republican Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden in six battleground states in the 2024 US presidential election, according to a poll released on Wednesday that cited concerns about the economy and Biden’s performance.

Trump garnered a lead of between 2 and 8 percentage points among voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina on a ballot that included third-party and independent candidates, the Wall Street Journal poll said. The results were similar in a one-on-one matchup with Biden, it said.

In Wisconsin, a seventh state where the contest is expected to be close, Biden was ahead by 3 points on a multiple-candidate ballot and tied in a head-to-head contest with Trump, the Journal said.

The Biden campaign is grappling with concerns about economy despite job growth, healthy spending and better-than-expected GDP increases, an issue that has vexed economists and Democratic political strategists.

In the poll, negative views of Biden’s job performance outweigh positive by at least 16% points. Trump was viewed as having better physical and mental fitness for the job by 48% respondents.