More Americans trust Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, with managing the economy than they do Donald Trump, a new poll suggests.

In a survey of 1,001 voters polled for the Financial Times and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, 42 per cent said they trusted Harris with economic management, compared with 41 per cent for the former president. It is the first time that the Democrats have polled better than the Republicans on the economy in more than a year.

Last month President Biden, the incumbent who announced he would not be seeking re-election, polled seven percentage points lower than Trump.

The appointment of Harris, 59, as the Democratic candidate has shaken up polling in the past three weeks, with surveys showing a narrowing in the popularity gap with Trump. The Democrats under Biden, 81, had struggled to generate a positive campaigning message on the economy, after inflation hit a 30-year high in the autumn of 2022 at 9.1 per cent. Consumer prices inflation has fallen back to 3 per cent, but voters had consistently favoured Trump, 78, over the Democrats on managing the economy amid concerns about the cost of living.

The US economy has been one of the best performers in the world over the past year, stimulated by government and consumer spending. The Biden administration has boasted a record 15.7 million new jobs created since late 2020. Markets endured a sharp sell-off last week amid fears of a US recession driven by poor jobs numbers. Speaking to CBS, the Bank of America boss Brian Moynihan said “you could dispirit the American consumer” if the Fed did not start cutting interest rates soon.

The next US president will face a series of big policy decisions, including whether to extend the 2016 Trump-era tax cuts that are due to expire next year. Trump has said he would continue the tax-cutting regime and would impose a 10 per cent tariff on all imports to the United States and a 60 per cent tariff on Chinese goods.

More American voters trust Trump on relations with China, at 43 per cent, compared with 39 per cent for Harris.

The polling also found that Harris’s broader popularity had increased since she was announced as the presidential nominee, with 46 per cent of surveyed voters saying she had performed well as a vice- president, compared with 41 per cent who approved of Biden’s performance as president.