Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the White House have announced that blue-collar workers saw almost 2 percent real wage growth during the first five months of President Donald Trump’s second term. The occasion represents the first time that any president — with the exception of Trump’s first term — has recorded positive growth in the first five months since President Richard Nixon in 1969.
The 1.7 percent real wage increase outperformed the first administration’s 1.3 percent real wage growth for blue-collar jobs in 2017. The start of both of Trump’s terms has provided a stark contrast to the negative 1.7 real wage growth in the first months of the Biden administration.
Bessent told the New York Post in an interview that “the only other time it has been this high … was during President Trump’s first term.” He added, “[W]e’ve seen real wages for hourly workers, non-supervisory workers, rise almost 2 percent in the first five months. No president has done that before.”
Trump’s Blue-Collar Agenda
Bessent speculated that real wages have increased because of Trump’s pro-manufacturing agenda and immigration and deportation policies. He contrasted Trump’s policies with previous years under the Biden administration, which saw floods of illegal immigration that proved to be a “disaster” for working Americans. The 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants in the country have put pressure on Americans’ wages, whereas Trump’s new policies have halted and begun to reverse that trend.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection released May’s operational statistics on Tuesday, announcing that “Border Patrol released zero illegal aliens into the interior of the U.S.” this May. In contrast, the Biden administration released 62,0000 illegal aliens into the country during May 2024. Further, the Border Patrol encountered 8,725 illegal aliens crossing the southwest border between ports of entry last month. This figure represents a 93 percent decrease from May 2024, when Border Patrol encountered 117,905 aliens.
The other integral component to real wages for blue-collar workers is falling inflation. Despite the expectations of those who feared that tariffs would bring higher prices, the U.S. experienced muted May inflation as consumer prices rose only 0.1 percent in May over the previous month. Year-over-year inflation was 2.4 percent, representing nearly a four-year low. The result of lower inflation tends to be increased take-home pay, leading to higher real wages and living standards.
Trump celebrated the historic increase in real wages for blue-collar workers in a post on Truth Social, writing, “Wow!!! U.S. Wage Growth BEST IN 60 YEARS!”
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