This time is different

Americans have seen good economies and bad economies over the years, from the stagflation of the 1970s to the Reagan Revival and from the Great Recession to the slow, crawling “recovery” of the Obama Administration.

The Trump Economy is roaring, but it’s also different. In previous booms, fast growth often meant soaring stocks and huge returns to those at the very top—the well-connected and well-heeled who got rich off the globalized economy. The stock market continues to break records under President Donald J. Trump—good news for anyone with a 401(k)—but it’s not the upper class who’s seeing the biggest gains in this economy.

Watch: “We're killing it on the economy!” says Larry Kudlow

“It’s a good time not to be ‘privileged,’ to borrow the political vernacular of our progressive friends,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote on Friday. “Employers added 263,000 jobs in April as the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6%, the lowest in five decades. The best news is that the biggest beneficiaries of this tight labor market are the folks who struggled during the slow-growth Obama years.”

That means blue-collar, middle-class, and working-class Americans. Today, the unemployment rate for both recent community college and vocational school graduates is actually lower than it is for grads from four-year colleges. “Less educated Americans are experiencing faster wage and job growth,” the Journal’s editors explain.

Congressional Democrats increasingly tell us that a heavy dose of socialism—think massive, government-run healthcare—is needed to give everybody a chance at the American Dream. That’s an awkward attack on President Trump’s economy when historically marginalized groups are seeing the following results, per Friday’s jobs report:

The unemployment rate for adult women hit 3.1 percent in April, the lowest rate since 1953.
Unemployment for Hispanics fell to 4.2 percent, the lowest rate ever since that statistic was first recorded in 1973.
Unemployment for Americans with only a high-school degree fell to 3.5 percent. That matches its lowest rate in nearly two decades.
Unemployment for those with a disability fell to 6.3 percent last month, the lowest rate since that statistic was first recorded in 2008.

“Believe it or not—and liberals won’t want to admit it,” The Wall Street Journal’s editors write, “the evidence is that the faster economic growth of the last two years is reducing income inequality.”

Kudlow: “The strongest jobs growth is from the blue-collar sector.”

Big news: The lowest unemployment rate in nearly 50 years!

Video of the day: The Commander-in-Chief trophy

This afternoon, President Trump had the honor of presenting the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for the second year in a row to the Army Black Knights football team.

Each year, the President presents the trophy to the service academy with the best football record against its rival military teams, including the U.S. Naval and Air Force Academies. This marked the first time that West Point has won the honor twice back-to-back.

“When you play for Army, you’re taught the courage to take a hit, the strength to sacrifice for your team, and the grit to fight for every single inch,” President Trump said.

Photo of the Day

Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead

President Donald J. Trump poses for photos with members of the Army Black Knights, the U.S. Military Academy football team, prior to the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy presentation | May 6, 2019