* Rousseff's approval rating up to record 78 pct - poll
* Government's approval rating unchanged at 62 pct
* President not hurt by political corruption scandals
(Adds pollster comments)
BRASILIA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma
Rousseff's approval rating is at an all-time high, despite a
stalled economy and political scandals that have tarnished the
reputation of her ruling Workers' Party, an opinion poll
published on Friday showed.
Rousseff's personal approval rating rose slightly to 78
percent, from 77 percent three months ago, according to the
CNI/Ibope poll. Approval of her left-of-center government was
unchanged at 62 percent, the poll showed.
The once-booming Brazilian economy almost ground to halt in
Rousseff's first year as president in 2011 and recovery has been
disappointing this year, despite a slew of tax breaks and other
incentives adopted by Rousseff's economic team.
Third-quarter growth of 0.6 percent was half that expected
by economists and surprised even the government, while
investment declined for a fifth straight quarter, prompting
calls from business leaders for a change in policy.
Pollsters say the slowdown has not affected most Brazilians,
who continue to consume more and have a positive view of the
government's efforts to reduce interest rates to historic lows,
while keeping inflation in reasonable check.
"The crisis has not reached the people yet and their view of
the economy is still satisfactory, or even positive," said CNI's
head of research, Renato da Fonseca.
"There is still good news on the economy," Fonseca said,
pointing to a popular step by Rousseff to try to lower some of
the world's highest energy costs next year.
Data published on Friday showed that the economy could be
beginning to respond to Rousseff's policies. A central bank
economic-activity index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.36 percent
in October after slumping in September, helped by the first
annual increase in industrial output in more than a year.
But the world's No. 6 economy is still expected to grow just
1.0 percent this year, a far cry from the 7.5-percent expansion
seen in 2010.
The economy's sluggish response to Rousseff's policies has
made her politically vulnerable for the first time in her two
years as president, and she needs to restore solid growth to
keep alive her re-election prospects in 2014.
Rousseff has successfully shielded herself from the fallout
from Brazil's biggest political corruption scandal that led to
the conviction of top members of the Workers' Party by the
Supreme Court last month.
The politicians sentenced to jail terms for running a
vote-buying scheme in Congress during the government of her
predecessor and mentor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, including his
former chief of staff Jose Dirceu, are not linked to Rousseff's
administration.
Rousseff, who gained a reputation for not tolerating
corruption by firing six ministers in her first year in office,
moved quickly to dismiss officials implicated in another scandal
that broke last month - an influence-peddling ring centered on
Lula's former private secretary.
Brazilians have not associated the corruption cases with
Rousseff, even the latest scandal which involved officials in
her government but who were appointed on Lula's watch.
"We are seeing that it hasn't undermined confidence in the
president and her way of governing," Fonseca said.
The quarterly poll of 2,000 people by Ibope and CNI, the
country's largest industry lobby, was conducted between Dec. 6
and Dec. 9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2
percentage points.
(Additional reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Editing by
Todd Benson and David Brunnstrom)