National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett went on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday with a number every family can feel. After the 3.4% GDP report, he said, the team compared real consumption, adjusted for inflation, to where it was when President Trump took office. “It’s up $5,000 per family,” Hassett said.
The reason is simple, he said: “People are not losing their jobs and initial claims for unemployment insurance are about the lowest that they’ve been. And people are seeing wage growth.” From the beginning, he said, “people’s purchasing power is way up.”
Hassett drew the contrast. Under President Obama, he said, Washington told Americans the weak economy was “the new normal,” and “they had eight years of stagnant income growth.” Then “Joe Biden with his runaway inflation made incomes go down $3,000 per family.”
“We’ve got one team that’s 0 for 12,” Hassett said, “and another team, if you’re just going to count presidential terms for President Trump, that he’s 2 for 2 in creating income growth. So I think that the stakes are clear.”
The factory floor backs it up. The White House Rapid Response team flagged new ISM data Monday showing manufacturing has now expanded for 10 straight months under President Trump. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
