Less than three months before Election Day, a new poll released Wednesday indicates Mitt Romney is still struggling with favorability ratings.

According to the ABC News/Washington Post survey, 49 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, while 40 percent see him in a favorable light.

The poll also shows that Romney's unfavorability rating has increased since May, when 45 percent had a negative view of the Republican candidate. According to the poll's release, Romney is "laboring under the lowest personal popularity ratings for a presumptive presidential nominee in midsummer election-year polls back to 1984."

Wednesday's results are in line with a Pew Research Center poll from last week, which found Romney's favorability rating had dropped slightly in the past month, with 37 percent saying they held a positive view of Romney in July, compared to 41 percent in June.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has higher positive ratings than his Republican challenger in the new ABC News/Washington Post survey, with 53 percent of Americans saying they view the president favorably, while 43 percent say they hold an unfavorable opinion.

But among registered voters, Obama's numbers fall to 49 percent favorable vs. 47 percent unfavorable. While the number drops, it's still more positive than Romney's score among registered voters: 42 percent favorable vs. 50 percent unfavorable.

Obama also has an advantage over Romney among registered independent voters, leading his opponent 46 percent to 38 percent.

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul downplayed the new results Wednesday morning, predicting the former Massachusetts' governor's ratings will go up as more voters get to know him.

She also pointed to recent polls that give Romney an advantage over the president when voters are asked which candidate would best handle the economy.

In fact, a new Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll released Wednesday indicates Romney has a 10-point advantage over Obama in the crucial swing state of Colorado on questions about the economy, with voters split in two other battleground states: Virginia and Wisconsin.

"The more people learn about Mitt Romney, the more they are going to like him," Saul said on CNN's "Starting Point." "President Obama has not been able to get the job done, and that's why middle class Americans are suffering so much."

Hitting back, Obama's deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said on the same program Wednesday that Romney's favorability ratings have "dropped like a hot potato" since the GOP primary season.

"(Saul) is absolutely correct. They are getting to know Mitt Romney and they aren't liking what they're seeing," Cutter said.

The ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by landline and cell phone, questioning 1,026 adults between Aug. 1 and Aug. 5. The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.