24 states have seen record low rates of unemployment since Donald Trump became President, according to data released last Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The full list of states with record low unemployment rates under Trump includes Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Many of these states have seen unemployment rates of 3 percent or lower under President Trump including Wisconsin (2.8 percent), Maine (2.9 percent), Iowa (2.4 percent), and Colorado (2.6 percent).
This low state unemployment should not be surprising – nationwide, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in September, a 50 year low.
Since President Trump took office, over 6.4 million jobs have been created and the unemployment rate for Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, and adult women has hit historic lows.
In August, there was over 7 million job openings and over 5.8 million people started a new job.
In addition, the ratio of unemployed persons to job openings is just 0.9 as of August 2019, according to recent Labor Department Job Openings and Labor Turnover Data.
Wages are also growing.
Real median household income has grown by $4,144, or 6.8 percent since the start of the Trump presidency, according to data published in the Wall Street Journal.
This is the highest real median household income ever and dwarfs wage growth under Barack Obama’s presidency which was around $1,000 as noted by Stephen Moore.
Clearly, the economy is strong for American workers and businesses. However, the Trump administration is not resting on its laurels and continues to push policies that build on this success. For instance:
- President Trump recently negotiated a new, U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. This agreement will lower barriers to trade and reduce tariffs, increase U.S. exports to Japan, grow the agricultural sector, and promote jobs.
- The administration is making progress on a phase one of a trade agreement with China. The agreement is expected to include a deal for China to buy U.S. agricultural products and a suspension of planned tariffs.
- The administration continues to push Congress to take up the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA). The USMCA would raise U.S. real GDP by $68.2 billion and create 176,000 American jobs, according to the International Trade Commission. The agreement will increase U.S exports to Canada by $19.1 billion and increase U.S. exports to Mexico by $14.2 billion.
List of states with record low unemployment under President Trump
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Data – October 18, 2019 [link]
|
State |
Historic Low Rate |
Historic Low Date |
|
Alabama |
3 percent |
September 2019 |
|
Alaska |
6.2 percent |
September 2019 |
|
Arkansas |
3.4 percent |
August 2019 |
|
California |
4 percent |
September 2019 |
|
Colorado |
2.6 percent |
June 2017 |
|
Hawaii |
2.2 percent |
November 2017 |
|
Idaho |
2.7 percent |
October 2018 |
|
Illinois |
3.9 percent |
September 2019 |
|
Iowa |
2.4 percent |
June 2019 |
|
Kentucky |
4 percent |
May 2019 |
|
Maine |
2.9 percent |
September 2019 |
|
Mississippi |
4.7 percent |
January 2019 |
|
Missouri |
3 percent |
October 2018 |
|
New Jersey |
3.1 percent |
September 2019 |
|
New York |
3.8 percent |
October 2018 |
|
North Dakota |
2.3 percent |
June 2019 |
|
Oregon |
4 percent |
August 2019 |
|
Pennsylvania |
3.8 percent |
June 2019 |
|
South Carolina |
2.9 percent |
September 2019 |
|
Tennessee |
3.2 percent |
April 2019 |
|
Texas |
3.4 percent |
September 2019 |
|
Vermont |
2.1 percent |
August 2019 |
|
Washington |
4.4 percent |
October 2018 |
|
Wisconsin |
2.8 percent |
May 2019 |