Democrats remain significantly more likely than independents or Republicans to be satisfied, as has been the case each month since President Barack Obama took office in 2009. This pattern is not unusual; Americans who identify with the party of the sitting president typically are more satisfied than those who don’t identify with his party.

Twelve percent of Republicans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S. in January, up from 5% last month. This is toward the high end of recent Republican satisfaction, which has ranged between 3% and 14% since Obama was inaugurated. On average, 9% of Republicans were satisfied with the way things were going in the country in 2013, putting this month’s reading slightly above last year’s norm.

Democrats’ satisfaction with the country’s direction stands at 40% in January, unchanged from December and in line with Democrats’ average 39% satisfaction throughout 2013.