WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's job approval rating has slipped since the spring among California voters, but he gets good marks for his handling of the economy and his plans to overhaul the nation's health care system.

That's according to the latest Field Poll, which found that 60 percent of the state's voters gave favorable ratings to the president. In March, 65 percent of Californians approved of his job performance.

"I have the feeling that he wants to do good and he's trying his best to accomplish that," said Art Tolman, 65, a poll respondent and Democrat from Grass Valley who said he approves of Obama's performance so far. "It's just very difficult in Washington to get anything done."

A strong majority, 60 percent, approve of Obama's handling of the economy, while 35 percent disapprove. And more than half, 52 percent, back his plan to overhaul the nation's health care system, while 37 percent disapprove.

"They're giving him the benefit of the doubt, even in an era where we have unprecedented unemployment," said Mark DiCamillo, executive director of the nonpartisan research group that conducted the poll

"I think the president has expended a bit of his political capital on the issue of health reform, although what's interesting to me is Californians are still with him by a fairly sizable margin," he added.

Californians were divided on what to do in Afghanistan. Only a third, 33 percent, said they would support the president if he decides to send more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan. Nearly half, 48 percent, supported the president's handling of the war in Afghanistan, and 16 percent said troop strength should be kept at current levels.

The findings were similar to national polls conducted recently. Only a quarter of those responding to a Washington Post-ABC News Poll in August said they would support sending more troops to Afghanistan, while a USA Today/Gallup Poll released last month found that half of all Americans would oppose such a move.

DiCamillo said the poll suggests that Obama's honeymoon is over and that voters now view him in a much more partisan light, which is more typical. The poll found the president's unfavorable ratings on the upswing since March, with 31 percent disapproving of his performance. In March, only 21 percent disapproved.

Eighty-one percent of Democrats gave positive marks to Obama, while 65 percent of Republicans disapproved of his job performance.

Herb Heckert, 59, a Republican and retired engineer from Elk Grove who participated in the poll, said he disapproved strongly of the president.

"I guess I don't agree with a lot of things, like the bailout of all the banks and stuff like that," he said. "And I think we're spending way too much of our money and going into way too much debt. ... I know we're going to pay for it sooner or later, likely through taxes."

Obama's popularity is in line with his five predecessors at similar points in their presidencies. Jimmy Carter had the lowest approval rating, 54 percent, at eight or nine months into his presidency, while 74 percent approved of George W. Bush's performance shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

DiCamillo speculated that the president's overall high marks on health care may be the result of the public debate over health care in the Golden State in recent years: "Californians have been wrestling with this issue, and I think they're perhaps a little more impatient and want to get things done."

Obama received his highest marks from African American and Latino voters and those under 40. More than two-thirds, 67 percent, of all voters from ages 18 to 39 approved of his performance.

Majorities of voters in major regions of the state gave a more positive than negative appraisal of the president. But Obama received his highest marks in the San Francisco Bay Area, where nearly three in four approved of his performance.

Call Rob Hotakainen, McClatchy Washington Bureau, (202) 383-0009.