Politics update

Under Trump, US blue-collar wage growth beat inflation for the first time in years. Under Biden they have fallen in real terms. This is why barely a third of Americans approve of Biden’s economic record. It is also partly why only a third of African-Americans — an overwhelmingly pro-Democratic bloc — say that Biden’s policies have helped black people.
If US voters rated how a president has acted in difficult circumstances, Biden’s 2024 prospects would look far rosier. He came to office at the height of the pandemic as a freakish disruption to global supply chains was hitting the economy. America has comfortably outperformed the rest of the world in its rebound from Covid. At 3.6 per cent of the workforce, US unemployment is at a near 50-year low. America’s economy is now about a tenth larger than when Biden came to office two and a half years ago. And US inflation is falling more rapidly than elsewhere. It is quite possible that America is heading for “immaculate disinflation” — the kind of soft landing that usually eludes it. Yet there is a big gap between America’s impressive macroeconomic picture and how most Americans are feeling.

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