WASHINGTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Congress' job approval rating hit a historic low Wednesday, according to a new Gallup poll.

    The poll showed that the approval rating dropped 5 percentage points over the past month, from a 19 percent approval in June to 14 percent in July.

    The new record is 4 percentage points lower than Congress' previous historic low of 18 percent last May.

    Pollesters attributed the decline to sliding support for Democrats.

    Over the past month, their support has slid from 23 percent approval in June to 11 percent in July, the poll found.

    During that time, the Republican Party's approval rating has risen, from 15 percent in June to 19 percent in July.

    The survey of 1,106 adults was conducted by telephone on July 10-13.