Donald Trump, Working Class Hero?

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame SundaramSYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 7 2020 (IPS) In his early February annual State of the Union address, US President Donald Trump typically hailed his own policies for increasing wages and jobs to achieve record low US unemployment. Directly appealing to labour for a second term, Trump claimed exclusive credit for the US “blue-collar boom”. Anis Chowdhury ‘Blue-collar boom’ During his previous two State of the Union speeches, Trump also directly appealed to blue-collar Americans who put him in the White House in November 2016. As Trump claims manufacturing workers have been the main beneficiaries of his economic policies, including his trade and other policies, this seemed likely to dominate his re-election campaign. In fact, US manufacturing growth had slowed to its lowest level in August 2019 when the purchasing managers’ index fell for the first time since September 2009. Despite his bombast, Trump has failed to reverse the continuing decline in manufacturing’s share of GDP. Nominal wages have risen by an average of 2.2% since Trump took office, but real wages fell 3.9% after adjusting for inflation. Real labour compensation, including fringe benefits, has declined 4.3%! Meanwhile, more than 53 million Americans, or 44% of all workers aged 18-64, earn low hourly wages, getting barely enough to survive. US unemployment fell to 3.5% in December 2019, its lowest level since 1969, before rising again. However, the story behind ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Economy & Trade Featured Financial Crisis Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Inequity Labour North America TerraViva United Nations Jomo Kwame Sundaram & Anis Chowdhury Source Type: news