It's a middle-class boom -- How Americans are really doing under Trump economy
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
How much of the monetary gains from the Trump economic speedup have gone to the middle class? If you ask Democratic senators and presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders, the answer to that question is ... almost none.
"(Donald) Trump's economy is great for billionaires, not for working people," Sanders likes to say. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi grouses that under the Trump agenda, "the rich get richer, and everyone else is stuck paying the bill."
Uh-huh. That's been the standard liberal riff for the last couple of years as they try to explain how a president who they said would create a second Great Depression has created boom times with the lowest inflation and unemployment in half a century.
Gigantic income gains But not a word of this is true, according to new Census Bureau data on the incomes of America's middle class. This study by former Census Bureau researchers and now statisticians at Sentier Research has found gigantic income gains for the middle class under Trump.
The median or average-income family has seen a gain of $5,003 since Trump came into office. Median family income is now (August 2019) $65,976, up from about $61,000 when he entered office (January 2017).
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Under George W. Bush, the household income gains were a little over $400 in eight years, and under Barack Obama the gains were $1,043. That was in eight years for each. Under Trump, in less than three years, the extra income is about three times larger.
These gains under Trump are so large in such a short period of time that I asked the Sentier Research team to triple-check the numbers. Sure enough, on each occasion, the income swing was $5,000.
This is a bonanza for the middle class, and the extra income in tens of millions of Americans' pockets is getting spent. Consumers are king in America today, and fatter wallets translate into more store sales. Home Depot and Lowe's recently recorded huge sales surges.
The tax cut also added an additional $2,500 to a typical family of four's after-tax incomes. So after taking account of taxes owed, the income of most middle-class families is up closer to $6,000 in the Trump era.
Memo to Pelosi: That ain't crumbs.
Ronald Reagan used to talk about the importance of real take-home pay. He asked voters in 1980, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" (when Jimmy Carter was elected). Thanks to high taxes, high inflation and high unemployment in the late 1970s, the answer to that question was clearly no. Reagan won and Carter lost.
Trump should begin asking Americans if they are better off than they were four years ago. Today, the answer to that question is clearly yes. It's the economy, stupid. Everyone -- especially the middle class -- is sharing in the fruits of the Trump boom.
Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an economic consultant with FreedomWorks. He is the co-author of "Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive the American Economy." To find out more about Stephen Moore and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
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Uh-huh. That's been the standard liberal riff for the last couple of years as they try to explain how a president who they said would create a second Great Depression has created boom times with the lowest inflation and unemployment in half a century.
Gigantic Income Gains But Not A Word Of This Is True, According To New Census Bureau Data On The Incomes Of America's Middle Class. This Study By Former Census Bureau Researchers And Now Statisticians At Sentier Research Has Found Gigantic Income Gains For The Middle Class Under Trump.
The median or average-income family has seen a gain of $5,003 since Trump came into office. Median family income is now (August 2019) $65,976, up from about $61,000 when he entered office (January 2017).
MORE ON FOXBUSINESS.COM ...
Under George W. Bush, the household income gains were a little over $400 in eight years, and under Barack Obama the gains were $1,043. That was in eight years for each. Under Trump, in less than three years, the extra income is about three times larger.
These gains under Trump are so large in such a short period of time that I asked the Sentier Research team to triple-check the numbers. Sure enough, on each occasion, the income swing was $5,000.
This is a bonanza for the middle class, and the extra income in tens of millions of Americans' pockets is getting spent. Consumers are king in America today, and fatter wallets translate into more store sales. Home Depot and Lowe's recently recorded huge sales surges. The tax cut also added an additional $2,500 to a typical family of four's after-tax incomes. So after taking account of taxes owed, the income of most middle-class families is up closer to $6,000 in the Trump era.
Memo to Pelosi: That ain't crumbs.
Corporate profits are near a record high, up nearly 30 percent since the pre-recession peak in 2006. During the same time, the income of the typical household has increased by less than 4 percent . Some workers are responding with measures like strikes partly as a result.
The same report showed the share of Americans living in poverty fell to 11.8 percent, the lowest level since 2001, and household incomes edged up to their highest level on record.... The Census Bureau report also had good news for the White House. Poorer households experienced the strongest income gains, a significant reversal after decades of rising inequality and a sign that the recovery is at last delivering income gains to middle-class and low-income families.
The report is the latest evidence that the strong job market is creating opportunities for a wide array of workers, said Michael R. Strain, an economist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
“You’re seeing improvements in employment outcomes for people with disabilities. You’re seeing improvements in employment outcomes for the formerly incarcerated,” Mr. Strain said. “These workers who are potentially more vulnerable, you’re seeing the recovery reach them.”.... At an individual level, pay did climb by some measures. Among full-time, year-round workers, inflation-adjusted earnings rose more than 3 percent for both men and women. And as some workers take home fatter paychecks, it is helping to even out inequality, if only slightly. Incomes grew more for poorer households last year, adjusted for household size. Poverty fell for households with children headed by women, and the black poverty rate was the lowest ever reported — though it is still more than double the white poverty rate.
There has been a “theme of the recovery finally seeping down to the most marginal workers and families in America,” and “you see that in 2018,” Mr. Tedeschi said.
The report’s income statistics are pretax, so they do not directly reflect Mr. Trump’s tax cut package, which took effect last year.... The poverty rate has fallen relatively steadily since 2010, when it topped 15 percent. Among children, the poverty rate was 16.2 percent, also down from 2017.
The Trump administration applauded that progress.
Pro-worker policies are “unleashing the private sector and achieving historical gains for the most disadvantaged Americans,” Tomas J. Philipson, acting chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement.
The median or average-income family has seen a gain of $5,003 since Trump came into office. Median family income is now (August 2019) $65,976, up from about $61,000 when he entered office (January 2017).... These gains under Trump are so large in such a short period of time that I asked the Sentier Research team to triple-check the numbers. Sure enough, on each occasion, the income swing was $5,000.
This is a bonanza for the middle class, and the extra income in tens of millions of Americans' pockets is getting spent....The tax cut also added an additional $2,500 to a typical family of four's after-tax incomes. So after taking account of taxes owed, the income of most middle-class families is up closer to $6,000 in the Trump era.
Memo to Pelosi: That ain't crumbs.
Well your numbers don’t include Aug 2019 census numbers and mine reflect median household income where half make more and half less. My numbers from Jan. 2017 to Aug. 2019 show more than double yours. Also the wage increases are going up faster by percentage in the bottom 25% of household income. Trumps economy is strong.
The strong Trump economy has created an environment where job opportunities are plenty and Americans are lifted out of poverty.
ASSOCIATED PRESS: US Household Income Finally Matches 1999 Peak; Poverty Drops
“The Census Bureau says that median household income rose 0.9% in 2018 to an inflation-adjusted $63,179 from $62,626 in 2017. The poverty rate fell to 11.8%, the lowest annual level since 2001. That improvement reflects increased income over the past several years for many workers in low-wage jobs.”
THE WASHINGTON POST: For The First Time, Most New Working-Age Hires In The U.S. Are People Of Color
“The surge of minority women getting jobs has helped push the U.S. workforce across a historic threshold. For the first time, most new hires of prime working age (25 to 54) are people of color, according to a Washington Post analysis of data the Labor Department began collecting in the 1970s. Minority hires overtook white hires last year. Women are predominantly driving this trend, which is so powerful that even many women who weren’t thinking about working — because they were in school, caring for kids or at home for other reasons — are being lured into employment, according to The Post’s analysis.”
REUTERS: Tight U.S. Labor Market Shrinks Gender And Race Gaps To Record Lows
“A tight U.S. labor market and booming demand in industries with an abundance of female workers is drawing more women back into the workforce, helping to shrink the longstanding gap in the labor participation rate between men and women to the narrowest on record. Other parts of a report released by the Labor Department on Friday showed that the longest economic expansion on record is leading to improvements for workers who are often left on the sidelines. Not only did the unemployment rate for African Americans drop to a record low of 5.5% in August, it narrowed to being 1.62 times the white unemployment rate, the smallest gap ever.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Minority Women Are Winning The Jobs Race In A Record Economic Expansion
“…Hispanic women have emerged as the biggest job market winners in an economy that has now grown for 121 straight months, assuming data released in coming months confirms continued growth. Employment rates for Hispanic women between 25 and 54, prime working years, have jumped by 2.2 percentage points since mid-2007, the eve of the Great Recession. That’s the most of any prime-age working group. Black women came in second, adding 1.6 percentage points.”
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Black Unemployment Rate Hits Record Low
“The unemployment rate among black Americans hit a record low in August, closing in on the gap in unemployment rates between white and black Americans. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics released their August report Friday, which showed the economy gained 130,000 jobs in August with the overall unemployment rate holding steady at 3.7%. The report also showed that black unemployment fell to 5.5%, which is the lowest rate recorded since the Labor Department started tracking the number in the 1970s.”
THE DAILY CALLER: Black Unemployment Hits Record Low, Spurred By Uptick In Employment For Black Women
“The unemployment rate for black workers fell from 6.0% in July to 5.5 % in August, data from the Department of Labor reveals. These number surpass the record low set in May 2018 of 5.9% for black unemployment. These record low numbers are impacted by unemployment numbers for black women. While July numbers revealed unemployment for black women to be at 5.2%, August numbers saw that figure drop to 4.4%.”
CNS NEWS: Hispanic Unemployment Rate Ties All-Time Low
“The number of Hispanics and Latinos employed set a record high in August as their national, seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate matched its record low of 4.2%, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released Friday show. In August, the unemployment rate for Hispanics and Latinos, aged 16 and up, was 4.2%, down from 4.5% in July, returning to the record low of 4.2% in April and May – which broke the record low of 4.3% set two months earlier in February.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Unemployment Rate Hits Record Low For Asian Americans
“The unemployment rate for Asian Americans fell to 2.1% in June, its lowest level on records dating to 2003. The result reflects Asian Americans coming off the sidelines to look for work and finding it.”
BREITBART: 6.2 Million Individuals Off Food Stamps Under Trump
“ The most recent USDA data shows that 6,268,285 individuals discontinued their participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)— the program in charge of food stamps— since February 2017 when Trump finished his first month as president.”
Trump should begin asking Americans if they are better off than they were four years ago.
Not this American. I would actually have more "take home" pay if I went on Social Security.
I'm taking home 8 thousand less a year than before the buy out, my brother is losing over 10 thousand a year after a buy out. The companies are doing well. The workers not so much.
Mine went up by 6,000 a year comparing 2016 and 2019.
Good for you. I'm glad for that. But the economic growth is uneven for individuals, not so much for business.
The average income increase due to wages up and taxes down is 6,000 for those at the median income level. ( half over, half under) I got that and I’m well into the half under.