An unemployment rate below 4% is always worth celebrating, especially on the 10th anniversary of a jobs report that showed the rate hitting 10%. But the reality remains that we still have many fewer men working than during previous booms, wage growth is lower, and productivity growth is non-existent.
On Wednesday, we learned that GDP growth slowed and business investment declined for a second straight quarter, the second worst and worst readings of the Trump administration, respectively. All this comes after last week’s confirmation that the federal deficit hit nearly $1 trillion in 2019, at a point in the business cycle when it should be approaching balance. Rather than declaring victory and awaiting the next crisis, we should be focusing now on serious economic reforms that might produce healthier booms in the future.
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Oren Cass is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of the new Issues 2020 issue brief, The Trump Economy: Solid but not the GOAT. Follow him on Twitter here.