Blue Collar Wages Rise 2% In Just the First Five Months of Trump's Second Term, the Most in 60 Years
Blue-collar workers have seen real wage growth of almost two percent in the first five months of President Donald Trump's second term, the largest increase for any administration in nearly 60 years.
The 1.7% pay bump is in stark contrast to negative growth under Joe Biden, according to new data from the US Department of the Treasury.
Since Richard Nixon in 1969, Trump has been the only president to record positive growth for blue-collar workers in his first five months. He also achieved 1.3% in his first term.
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The recovery from a 1.7% decline recorded in Biden's first five months, as inflation outpaced earnings, suggests a shift in economic conditions for this financially stressed segment of the workforce.
"The only other time it's been this high was... during President Trump's first term," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told me on the latest episode of the "Pod Force One" podcast, out Wednesday.
"We've seen real wages for hourly workers, non-supervisory workers, rise almost 2% in the first five months. ... No president has done that before."
Falling inflation has driven the significant improvement in blue-collar wages, lifting workers' take-home pay and living standards.
Bessent says wage growth is also fueled by the president's "emphasis on manufacturing" and commitment to remove illegal migrants from the workforce.
"Biden opened the border, and it was flooded," said Bessent. "And for working Americans, that's a disaster because it's pressure on their wages."
As soon as Trump took office, the percentage of voters saying the country was on the right track shot up from 26% to 42%. (It has now dropped to 41%, which is probably just statistical noise.)
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