by Harlan Hill
The Trump economic boom is still in full swing, with both hiring and wages continuing to grow robustly, according to the latest jobs report.
The U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs in November, keeping unemployment at a historic low of 3.7 percent — a figure not seen since the 1960s. These 155,000 new jobs follow revised an October total of 237,000.
The numbers are even more impressive because they come from such a solid starting point — we’re well past the point of merely replacing jobs lost during the recession. These numbers reflect solid expansion within the American economy, as new and growing enterprises scramble to fill job openings with American workers.
This is something historic — the return to full employment in America. Even the manufacturing sector, which conventional wisdom long presumed to be in permanent decline due to globalization, added 27,000 jobs last month, pushing the total number of new manufacturing jobs created since the President took office above 400,000.
Meanwhile, only one sector had a noticeable drop in employment: government workers.
Full employment isn’t just about people getting off the breadline by taking any job they can get; it means people are finding jobs they actually want. Those who are currently employed — now virtually every American who wants to be — are finally seeing steady wage growth after decades of stagnation. The reason for this is simple: in a full-employment economy, it’s American workers who have the power.
After almost two years of uninterrupted job growth under President Trump, workers know just how valuable they are. Firms are desperate to fill positions, and increasingly have to compete with each other to fill them by increasing salaries and benefits. In Donald Trump’s America, workers are interviewing prospective employers the way companies used to interview job applicants. The playing field has become so advantageous to workers, in fact, that firms in Chicago have begun to fear being “ghosted” by employees abandoning their old jobs in favor of new ones that offer better compensation.
Across the entire economy, wages are up by more than 3 percent over the first 11 months of 2018, equating to an increase of 81 cents in the average hourly wage. By contrast, the last time the minimum wage was hiked, it rose 70 cents in 12 months.
This is the way it’s supposed to be in America. For too long, establishment politicians and mainstream media pundits told us that America was doomed to economic stagnation; that it could never again experience full employment or rapid wage gains thanks to the globalized economy. The success of President Trump’s America First agenda is putting that elitist nonsense to rest, driving unemployment to historic lows, revitalizing manufacturing, and raising wages across the board.
President Trump’s detractors in the media will never give him credit for these paradigm-shattering accomplishments, but working Americans who are thriving in the current job market know that this economic boom is the real deal.
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Harlan Hill is a political advisor, media commentator, and an advisory board member of the Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
