"The number of Americans who believe that the nation is headed in the right direction has roughly tripled since Barack Obama's election, and the public overwhelmingly blames the excesses of the financial industry, rather than the new president, for turmoil in the economy," according to the Washington Post/ABC News Poll (March 27-30, 1000 A, MoE +/- 3%).

The poll finds that 42% of Americans now feel the country is headed in the right direction, which is the highest mark in five years and up from 15% in December, 19% in January and 31% in February.

Obama receives a 66% overall job approval rating, with 60% approving of his handling of the economy and 52% of his handling of the federal budget deficit.