Free Republic

Trump’s economy has produced an all-time record-low poverty rate and record-high household income. Now nearly a million more Americans are working than just two months ago. Time to tell the story. That’s not all. America just also hit its highest real median household income in history. The Atlanta Fed’s October 20 estimate puts third-quarter growth at a strong 3.5 percent annual rate. That’s after years of Democrats promising us that 1.6 percent was “the new normal.” It’s also after barely more than a year and a half of Trump back in office. It gets even better. Child poverty fell to...

Wages in construction are rising as the nation’s labor market recovers from the flood of cheap and subsidized migrant labor imported by pro-migration policies before 2024, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The recovery — caused by President Donald Trump’s 2024 deportation mandate — is especially rapid in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has used state police to deliver many illegal migrants to the federal deportation officers. American construction workers in Florida who build the wooden frames for housing can now charge roughly $42 per hour, up from $20 per hour, Scott Brannock, president of Jacksonville-based Tidewater Homes...

September’s producer price index came in much hotter than economists forecast on Thursday, underscoring the continued inflationary pressure from energy amid the U.S. war with Iran. The measure of underlying inflation pressures climbed 1.3% in September and 6.3% on an annual basis, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That marked the largest monthly and annual gains since March 2022 and December 2022, respectively. Both readings topped expectations of economists polled by Dow Jones, who forecast an advance of 0.6% on the month and 5.5% annually.

The cost of the American dream is rising at a faster pace than household earnings, driven by notable increases in the cost of homeownership, raising children and paying for college, according to a new report. An analysis by Investopedia finds that the lifetime cost of the American dream rose 4.1% from 2025 to 2026, with the cost increasing by more than $208,000 from $5.11 million a year ago to $5.32 million this year. That cost has risen faster than wages and salaries, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics data for private sector wages and salaries in the past 12 months...

Statement on Trump Suspending Microsoft from the PERM Program: This is a crucial issue for me as the top Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee, the only member of Congress to have actually had an H-1B visa, and the Representative for tens of thousands of Microsoft workers. The administration has been consistently working to take away legal pathways for immigrants to contribute their talents to our country, and this is yet another of those attacks. The PERM program is the first step toward an employment-based green card for countless workers who want to contribute to this country, and it lays out...

That spending increase was primarily driven by entitlement programs, the military, and interest payments on the national debt. The CBO notes that Social Security spending increased by 5 percent last year due to "increases in average benefits and in the number of beneficiaries." There was an 8 percent increase in spending on both Medicare and Medicaid, while military spending increased by 5 percent.

While inflation has been running stubbornly high, American paychecks are growing even faster than prices are rising. Inflation-adjusted weekly wages have risen in 16 out of the 18 months for which the government reported data since President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January 2025. There was no data for October because of the government shutdown last year. To put it differently, real weekly wages have been positive 89 percent of the time since Trump took office. By contrast, real weekly wages rose less than half of the time—46 percent—during Biden’s presidency. During Trump’s first term, real weekly wages were positive...

For many US households, it may not feel like the economy is doing well amid the higher cost of living brought on by the US war on Iran. But believe it or not, the US economy is nearing an impressive achievement on the unemployment front. The US unemployment rate is nearing a record number of consecutive months below 5%, Truist chief strategist Keith Lerner pointed out (see the chart below). The longtime record dates back to the mid-1960s. It's a worthwhile perspective to keep in mind as markets attempt to rationalize a surprisingly weak September jobs report. Employers added just...

Iran’s worsening economic crisis has opened an increasingly bitter argument over who is responsible, as the government points to outside pressure and market psychology while hardliners accuse Tehran’s own economic officials of making the situation worse. On Thursday, the end of Iran’s market week, the rial fell to another record low. Year-on-year inflation has reached almost 90 percent, with food prices rising even faster. The deterioration comes as US sanctions and a naval blockade squeeze Iran’s sources of revenue. The blockade has severely constrained oil exports, while Washington on Thursday expanded sanctions into the automotive and rail sectors, targeting some...

You don't have to work on Wall Street to care about Treasury yields. You don't have to own a farm to care about diesel prices. And you don't have to be shopping for a house to care about mortgage rates.Eventually, these numbers have a way of finding all of us.America is entering a period in which several economic warning signs are flashing at the same time. None of them, by itself, proves that a recession or financial crisis is around the corner. In fact, parts of the economy remain remarkably resilient.But taken together, they tell us something important: the financial...

I’m in Europe for a few weeks, giving myself some physical (if not mental) distance from Trumpland. So I decided to take a short break from my healthcare series to write about the European economy — specifically the perception that Europe is in economic decline. According to conventional wisdom, Europe is falling far behind the United States. It has lost any dynamism it once had and is quickly becoming a museum of its former glories. This perception is widespread: at Davos in January Howard Lutnik, Trump’s Commerce secretary, gave a speech that was so insulting toward Europe that Christine Lagarde,...

(Artist's concept of the new Mesabi Metallics steel plant to be built in Minnesota)Monday’s news cycle brought an exciting story for both the manufacturing industry and America’s heartland: Mesabi Metallics has announced a new $15-billion steel mill to be built in Iowa, along the Mississippi River. With an expectation of being up and running by 2030, the mill will be the largest ever in the United States, being budgeted to reach approximately 10 percent of current American steel production within a couple years of startup. The statistics shared at the announcement anticipate five or six thousand construction jobs for its...

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump is set to announce a MAJOR $54 BILLION INVESTMENT in Alaska liquefied natural gas, as part of a $350 BILLION strategic investment deal from South Korea — Reuters THIS IS MASSIVE! 🇺🇸 The billions of dollars will help construct an LNG facility in Alaska, along with additional American projects Trump is going full ECONOMIC WINS mode, just this week announcing a major steel mill in Iowa — home to a crucial Senate race Alaska is also home to a crucial Senate race for the GOP holding the trifecta. Here we go!

The job market is booming for young people – but not those with college degrees. Are employers finally coming to realize that colleges these days mainly produce coddled, know-nothing, whiny, entitled brats? A recent analysis from Burning Glass Institute found that unemployment among those 22-34 years old without a college degree is lower than it’s been in decades, but those with college diplomas are having a much harder time finding work than before.

President Donald Trump is searching for ways to ease the affordability squeeze on American households, but nearly every proposal is colliding with another part of the economy.Beef relief risks hurting ranchers. Restricting fuel exports could distort energy markets. A proposed $5,000 payment to American adults would require congressional action and could add enormous new spending power to an economy where inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s target.For investors, the bigger story is becoming clear: there may be no quick political fix for an affordability problem being driven at the same time by energy costs, interest rates, inflation and weak purchasing...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday announced a new steel plant in southeast Iowa that he says will be the largest in the United States. The president hosted steel executives and several Iowa leaders Monday afternoon for the announcement at the White House. …. The mill is being built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota company owned by India-based Essar Group. It's expected to create roughly 6,000 construction jobs and 1,750 permanent jobs in Iowa, with its first steel production in 2030. … The White House says it "will be fully vertically integrated in the U.S. (from iron mining through...

Speaking of South America, there’s a freedom revolution going on down there that is liberating and pro-growth. Many of our neighbors to the south are shrinking governments, opening markets, and prioritizing growth and stability. Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia are governed by conservative leaders. Ironically, this is all happening as the Left in America moves toward South Americanesque socialist policies. Brazil, with its 214 million people, will decide next month if they will join this wave. Incumbent Lula da Silva, the “last man standing” among South America’s leftist leaders, is tied in polls with Flavio Bolsonaro, the...

President Donald Trump is set to announce Monday that a $15 billion steel mill billed as the largest ever built in the United States will go up in Iowa. White House officials said the Oval Office event is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. Mesabi Metallics is expected to name the Iowa site at that briefing. The administration said the plant would be the first U.S. “mega-steel” facility constructed since the 1960s. Production is targeted to begin in 2030. Officials said the mill would turn out about 7.5 million tons of steel a year in its first phase and as much...

President Donald Trump is unveiling Monday plans for a massive steel plant in Iowa that the White House says will be the largest in American history and promises to bring 1,750 permanent jobs to the state. The roughly $15 billion steel plant is touted as a major new investment and evidence that Trump's economic agenda is bringing heavy manufacturing back to the U.S. with just over a month until the midterms. It will create between 5,000 and 6,000 construction jobs during its first phase. Trump is expected to make the announcement from the Oval Office at 2 p.m. alongside executives...

Apparently, Democrats’ internal polling suggests gas prices won’t be enough to sweep them into power in the Midterms. They may also suggest endlessly mouthing “affordability” isn’t that hot either, which is plausibly why AI, in development for many years, has suddenly become their newest source of imminent doom. Happily, for Americans, it appears AI hysteria isn’t going to work very well either. Americans seem to have learned from the COVID hoax. The other day, I paid $4.17 for gas. That didn’t make me happy, but I know it’s temporary. President Trump’s policies, based in reality and a solid understanding of...