Washington, D.C. — A new analysis from the Center for American Progress shows that President Donald Trump’s first year back in office has weakened the economic standing of working-class Americans.
The column finds that employment has fallen for workers without college degrees, wage growth has slowed significantly, manufacturing jobs have declined after the administration’s sweeping tariffs, household costs are rising, and the Trump administration is undermining worker protections.
“The White House continues to insist that workers are ‘winning again,’ but the evidence shows a working class facing higher costs, fewer opportunities, and diminished labor standards over the past year,” said Aurelia Glass, policy analyst for the American Worker Project at CAP and author of the analysis. “Instead of strengthening workers’ economic security, the administration’s policies have left them more exposed.”
CAP’s analysis finds:
- 361,000 jobs held by workers without college degrees have disappeared from January to September.
- 58,000 net manufacturing jobs were lost following “Liberation Day” from April and September, when the president announced sweeping new tariffs.
- Real wage growth has slowed sharply, falling by 0.5 percentage points for workers with a high school diploma or less and by 0.7 percentage points for workers with associate degrees from January to September.
- Household electricity costs rose more than 9 percent from January to August 2025, on top of already high inflation.
- Tariffs have driven up prices for major household appliances (5.6 percent), meat (6.2 percent), fruit (5.5 percent), and coffee/tea/cocoa (9.2 percent) relative to pre-tariff trends.
- The administration is stripping away worker protections by eliminating collective bargaining rights for more than 1 million federal workers, weakening minimum wage rules for up to 3.7 million domestic workers, rolling back the contractor minimum wage increase, and replacing pro-worker agency leaders with officials hostile to worker rights.
Read the analysis: “Year 1 of the Second Trump Administration Made the Working Class Weaker” by Aurelia Glass
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Christian Unkenholz at [email protected].