Washington, D.C. — Michael Madowitz, economist at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement on the October 2018 jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The economy added 250,000 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate remaining steady at 3.7 percent. Year-over-year wage growth came in at 3.1 percent, potentially due to abnormally low wage growth following the fall 2017 hurricanes.
President Donald Trump inherited an economy with strong job growth, and his first 21 months have actually lagged slightly behind the previous 21 months. More importantly, virtually every action he has taken has ensured that the benefits of the economy go to the top 1 percent, leaving the middle class falling behind with flat real wage growth—and Americans know it. The president has falsely claimed that the state of the economy and the rate of job creation are the “best ever,” but his promises of a trickle-down boom fueled by colossal tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans is just not the reality.
Here are the facts. Corporate profits and stock buybacks have boomed, while real wage growth has remained stubbornly low—making it plainly obvious who has benefited from the Trump tax bill. Rising interest rates are increasingly hitting families’ pocketbooks, and the investment boom promised to sell the tax bill has not materialized.
Announcing new so-called tax cuts for the middle class, without any details, less than two weeks before the election—with Congress out of session, no less—revealed that Trump and his allies in Congress are keenly aware that their tax scam has been a complete failure with working- and middle-class Americans. To add insult to injury, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican congressional leaders have openly threatened Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for the ballooning deficits caused by the very tax cuts they passed into law. Two years in, it’s clear who the Trump economy was designed for.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.