Despite robust economic numbers during the Trump presidency, the American public has seemed curiously unmoved by such good news as the lowest U.S. unemployment level in nearly half a century, according to an article published by The Washington Post.

“Its enthusiasm might have been dampened by this underappreciated economic reality: The typical working American’s earnings, when properly measured, have declined during the Trump administration.”

The writer Robert J. Shapiro added that although the president’s economic team touts positive earnings data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that suggest rising wages and salaries, the figures are misleading because they focus not on how much an average working person earns but on the “average earnings” of all employed people.

“In times of rising inequality, employees at the top pull up “average” earnings. Shift to the bureau’s earnings data for an average or “median” working person, and most of those claimed gains disappear. Another catch: The data used by the White House doesn’t account for inflation. Adjust the median earnings data for inflation, and the illusion of progress evaporates.”

After displaying the figures details, Shapiro concluded that average working Americans are worse off under the Trump presidency than they were under Obama’s.

“Yes, low unemployment is something to applaud, but there might be a good reason that so many who have jobs aren’t clapping.”

Source: The Washington Post