The public support rate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet has fallen slightly to 43.3 percent, with many calling for respecting a recent local referendum that rejected a plan to relocate a U.S. air base within Okinawa Prefecture, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday.

In the nationwide telephone poll conducted Saturday and Sunday, a large majority of respondents also indicated their disappointment at the country's tepid economic recovery and the government's response to a labor data scandal.

The Cabinet approval rate fell 2.3 percentage points from the previous survey in early February, while the disapproval rate was almost unchanged at 40.9 percent.