The White House on Tuesday highlighted President Trump’s economic record and credited his pro-growth policies with creating millions of jobs and putting more money in workers’ pockets.
A fact sheet released by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders detailed the record low unemployment, boosts to wages and new job-training opportunities on Mr. Trump’s watch.
The economic good times are the chief argument for Republicans in the midterm elections, and Mr. Trump will be hitting the road regularly this fall to hammer home the message at campaign stops across the country.
Mr. Trump frequently chides the news media for not giving adequate coverage of his economic record.
The White House also chose the highlight the economic successes as the administration is embroiled in tough trade talks on numbers fronts, including trying to get Canada to join a new version of NAFTA agreed to by the U.S and Mexico.
The White House noted the rosy job numbers, including record low unemployment for minorities and women:
* The number of job openings has surpassed the number of job seekers for the first time on record.
* More than 3.4 million jobs have been created since the president took office.
* The unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in July 2018, marking only the eighth time since 1970 that unemployment fell below 4.0 percent.
* African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates have hit their lowest level on record.
* Women’s unemployment recently reached its lowest rate in 65 years.
* Unemployment claims overall have fallen to a 49-year low.
* Unemployment for those who did not finish high school has fallen to a record low.
“President Trump’s policies are lifting up hardworking Americans who have been left behind and forgotten for too long,” said Ms. Sanders.
She noted that a recent Harris Poll found that 85 percent of blue-collar workers think America is headed in the right direction and 68 percent reported they received a pay increase in the past year.
“President Trump’s pro-growth economic policies are generating tremendous benefits for American workers and raising optimism to new heights,” said Ms. Sanders.
The fact sheet also highlighted the administration’s efforts to expand job training opportunities, including the president creating a National Council for the American Worker that is developing a national strategy for training and retraining America’s workers for high-demand industries.
Other efforts listed in the fact sheet include:
* Enlisting employers across the country to sign the president’s “Pledge to America’s Workers” and committing to train or retrain more than 4.2 million workers and students.
* The Department of Labor recently unveiled a new website – apprenticeships.gov – dedicated to connecting job seekers with apprenticeship programs across the country.
* The president signed the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, known as the Perkins CTE, which funds vocational and career-focused education programs. It was the first reauthorization for the Perkins CTE since 2006.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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