US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that “hard-working Americans” are suffering financial hardships under the administration of President Donald Trump despite a new jobs report that shows the economy added a better-than-expected 224,000 jobs in June. RNA - The new report on Friday allays concerns resulting from the jobs report in May that suggested a recession could be possible before election. However, persistent moderate wage gains indicate that the economy is still losing momentum.
“The June job numbers are an improvement over May’s dreadful report, but hard-working Americans are still struggling under the Trump Administration’s disastrous special interest agenda,” Pelosi said in a statement on Friday.
“As the cost of living soars, too many hard-working Americans are being forced to work multiple jobs just to provide for themselves and their families. While the wealthy and well-connected have been further enriched by the GOP’s special interest giveaways, hard-working men and women earning the federal minimum wage are falling further and further behind. Our economy must work for everyone, not just the wealthy and privileged few.”
Meanwhile, Trump said Friday the report shows the US continued to do “really, really well” and “would be like a rocket ship,” if the Fed lowered rates when it meets on July 30-31.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested last month that the US economy was facing risks mostly caused by Trump’s escalation of a globally harmful trade war with China.
Trump initiated what is effectively a trade war with China last year, when he first imposed unusually heavy tariffs on imports from the country. Since then, the two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than $360 billion in two-way trade.
Washington says a primary goal of the aggressive tariff strategy is to decrease the trade imbalance with China, which totaled $379 billion in 2018.
China strongly opposes US tariff hikes, saying they are harmful not only to China and the US, but to the whole world.
847/940