Although the Israel-Iran conflict shows no signs of abating and Russia and Ukraine are still at war, the Trump administration nevertheless had some good domestic news on the economy to share Tuesday. In a statement on the White House website, they said that blue-collar wage growth was up by a historical measure:
In President Donald J. Trump’s first five months in office, real wages for hourly workers have seen their largest increase under any administration in nearly 60 years — and we’re just getting started with pro-growth, pro-prosperity policies that finally put America First.
Blue-collar workers have seen real wages grow almost two percent in the first five months of President Trump’s second term — a stark contrast from the negative wage growth seen during the first five months of the Biden Administration.
“The only other time it has been this high … was during President Trump’s first term,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in an interview with the New York Post.
Thanks to @POTUS’s pro-growth, America First policies, real wages for hourly workers are up nearly 2% in the first five months of @realDonaldTrump’s second term — the strongest growth in 60 years.
No president has done that before — except President Trump in his first term.… pic.twitter.com/gasjQn33eb
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) June 17, 2025
The White House statement continued:
The New York Post notes: “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 … 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.”
Bessent also appeared on the podcast “Pod Force One” in an episode to be released Wednesday and explained why former President Joe Biden’s policies were so disastrous:
“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.”
Scott Bessent: “We’ve seen real wages for hourly workers, nonsupervisory workers, rise almost 2% in the first five months. No president has done that before.”pic.twitter.com/srsYeOqEqf
— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) June 17, 2025
The treasury secretary has proven he’s no one to be trifled with.
Related: Sec Bessent Masterfully Dispatches Dems on Senate Committee Over OBBB, 2024: ‘Your Side Lost’
Bessent Levels Plaskett With Perfect Response – Her Reaction Goes Completely Off the Rails
Despite the constant fear-mongering from the left that tariffs were going to destroy the economy and Trump’s policies were going to drive up inflation, neither of those things has happened. Add these wage numbers to the growing list of positive economic developments we’ve already seen in Trump’s second term.
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