ALBANY — Voter approval of Gov. Paterson has slipped backward in the wake of his perceived inaction on the financial crisis and his controversial complaints about racial bias in the media, according to a new poll.

The Marist College survey of registered voters found Paterson’s job-approval rating, which for months has been among the lowest for a governor in the nation, dropped a point, to 20 percent.

The governor had crept up to 21 percent in June after reaching a dismal 19 percent one month earlier.