FactCheck.org posted the statistics of President Donald Trump’s second term so far near the end of January, which shows Trump’s economic wins and losses. Overall, the economy grew by 1.8%, the international trade deficit decreased by only 0.9%, and federal debt held by the public increased 6.7%.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that inflation rose by 2.7% during the last 12 months, which was less than the previous 12 months before Trump came in office. The average weekly wage also adjusted for inflation, rising by 1.4%.
The gross domestic product (GPD), at first, declined at an annual rate of 0.6%, but then grew 3.8% and 4.3% in the second and third quarter respectively. Information for the fourth quarter will not be released until February 20.
The unemployment rate is still below normal, but it did rise by 0.4%. While there are more unemployed than there are jobs available, AFN published recently how 130,000 jobs where added to the market in January, mainly in the private sector. Dr. J.E. Antoni of the Heritage foundation attributed this success to the Trump administration.
Rachel Greszler is a senior research fellow at Advancing American Freedom (AAF) and a senior economist on the staff of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. She recommended that the Trump administration remove more of the regulatory barriers that are "making it harder" for businesses to expand jobs and to increase incomes.
"I know that the administration cares a lot about manufacturing and making more things in America, and yet our regulatory apparatus creates a burden that's equal to about $29,000 per worker in regulatory costs for every manufacturer in the U.S," informs Greszler.
She points out the benefits removing the regulations would have for businesses.
"If you could remove some of those unnecessary regulations, that's money that could be freed up for those manufacturers to expand, for them to reduce their prices, for them to pay their workers more," lists Greszler.
The Trump administration has done things to help people and businesses through the One Big Beautiful Bill, but there may be room for more policies down the road.
"There are plenty of other ways that they could do that as well, such as expanding apprenticeship programs and other tax and regulatory barriers out there," states Greszler.
