By Staff Writer James Mellen III.
On October 6, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7%, the lowest it’s been since 1969, and Trump celebrated his accomplished economy with a tweet.
This begs the question, is the same man whose been the butt of a thousand jokes since 2016, the same man who “saved” America’s economy? To put it simply, Trump didn’t do anything to lower unemployment, but also the American economy is still very broken.
The job market has been on a steady incline since the second year of Obama’s second term. If the growth to the economy had been the work of Trump, the trend wouldn’t have started before he took office.
Trump did give stock brokers lower taxes and more relaxed regulations on their work, which did in turn made the stock market reach higher highs than normal, however the higher then high the lower the low. We are now watching what is start of what very well could be a stock market crash.
The status of the economy is a hot topic in any political election, and is historically vital towards aging the effectiveness of a president. The reason for this is that is because for many Americans, job security is dependent on the status of the economy, and stable finances are dependent on job security, and a good standard of living is dependent on stable finances. In this economy however, job security doesn’t lead to stable finances.
Unemployment rates are supposed to show the amount of Americans who are employed, and can pay their bills and support their families. Today in 2018, 42% of Americans are making less than 15 dollars an hour at their job, and this is more likely than not the same 40% that can’t afford to pay their bills every month.
About 21% of Americans rely on government programs like welfare in order to make ends meet. All three of those percentages are at least 6 times bigger than our 3.7% unemployment rate.
This leaves many Americans in a tough limbo, where they’re working full time and unable to provide for themselves or their families.
That’s why the most important side of the “Did a democrat or a republican fix the economy” debate is the side the least spoken on. The side that points out that it doesn’t matter, even with unemployment being so low, this economy is still terrible for almost half of Americans.
In the modern political climate, things like the stock market and unemployment are a lot more representative of how much money CEOs are making than the standard of living for the American working man.
The percent of Americans who are employed isn’t representative of the amount of Americans who can make ends meet, then it’s just the percent of Americans who are being exploited.
The last time the poverty rate was estimated in America was 2016. In 2016 the poverty rate was at 12.7% and the unemployment rate was at 4.9%. So 8.8% of Americans were living in poverty while employed.
This was during Obama’s second term, the exploitation of working class Americans is a non-partisan issue.
It’s important to remember what these economic numbers represent and not just view them as end all be all figures. The American economy is at its best when it spreads wealth to hard working people, and anyone who works a full time job is working hard enough to at least deserve not having to wonder where the rent is going to come from this month. Until that happens the economy won’t be fixed.
So don’t just vote for low unemployment, or a booming stock market. Vote for labor, vote for a higher minimum wage, vote for more regulations on the treatment of workers, vote for wealth distribution, and vote for the American working class.
PHOTO COURTESY: MARKETWATCH.COM