The Dept. of Labor reveals [DATA HERE] initial claims for unemployment fell again last week, creating the following Reuters headline: “The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell last week in a sign of ongoing labor market strength.”   Another strong labor report, followed by another media report outlining how the results beat all economic analyst expectations; a consistent theme throughout 2019.

White House – DRIVING A RECORD-SETTING ECONOMY: The booming economy and strong labor market allow Americans of all backgrounds to find work and succeed.
♦ The current labor market revival is not a continuation of past trends, but instead a direct result of President Trump’s pro-growth policies.

• Since President Trump was elected, more than 7 million jobs have been added to our economy – surpassing the Congressional Budget Office’s predictions by 5 million jobs.
• This year, the unemployment rate has fallen to 3.5%, its lowest level in 50 years.
• Unemployment for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma have all reached record lows under President Trump.
• The President’s policies are bringing people off the sidelines and into the labor force.
• The prime age labor force has grown by 2.1 million under President Trump.
• The surge in labor demand has resulted in 7 million job openings, which outnumber job seekers by more than 1 million.
• Before President Trump took office, there had never been more recorded job openings than unemployed workers.

♦ LOWERING INEQUALITY: President Trump’s policies are helping forgotten Americans across the country prosper, driving down income inequality.

• Annual nominal wages grew by 3 percent in 2019 for the first time in a decade.
• Nominal wage growth has now been at or above 3 percent for 16 straight months.
• Wage growth for many previously forgotten groups is now higher than wage growth for more advantaged groups.
• This is the case for lower-income workers compared to higher-income workers, workers compared to managers, and African Americans compared to white Americans.
• These income gains mark a fundamental change compared to before President Trump’s inauguration, contributing to reduced income inequality.
• When measured as the share of income earned by the top 20 percent, income inequality fell in 2018 by the largest amount in over a decade.
• The Gini coefficient, an overall measure of inequality in the population, also fell in 2018.

At 3.7 percent, November year-over-year wage growth for production and nonsupervisory workers was near a post-recession high achieved last month and again exceeded overall year-over-year wage growth.
From the start of the current expansion to the end of 2016, average wage growth for production and nonsupervisory workers lagged that of managers, the bottom 10 percent of wage earners lagged that of the top 10 percent, those without a college degree lagged that of college graduates, and African Americans lagged that of white Americans.
However, since President Trump took office, each of these trends has been reversed, contributing to lower income inequality.

♦ LIFTING UP AMERICANS: The booming economy is lifting millions of Americans out of poverty and providing all people with the opportunity for a brighter future.

• In 2018 alone, nearly 1.4 million Americans were lifted out of poverty.
• The poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans reached historic lows in 2018.
• Over 600,000 children being raised by single mothers were lifted out of poverty in 2018.
• The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population is the lowest on record.
• Nearly 7 million fewer people are on food stamps than at the time of the 2016 election.
• 380,000 fewer people are on Social Security Disability insurance than before the 2016 election.

Americans in economically-distressed communities are benefiting from increased investment thanks to the Opportunity Zones included in President Trump’s historic tax reform.

As further evidence of how much the labor market has improved under President Trump, other data released by BLS  show that the number of people who experienced unemployment last year declined by 2.4 million compared to 2016. This number should decline again in 2019 because, under the Trump Administration, the number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population is the lowest on record since the data began in 1967.