Trump Effect: +200k jobs, GDP 5.4%, wages rising, 49% approval

Americans are feeling the positive effects of a free market unleashed through the Trump administration’s policies that so far have reduced bad regulations, exited bad international agreements, begun to renegotiate bad trade deals and lowered taxes – trickle-down economics by definition.

Nonfarm payrolls jumped 200,000 in January solidly beating analyst estimates of just 180,000. Hourly earnings rose by .3% reflecting an annualized increase of 2.9%. The increase is the best since 2009 and faster than inflation.

While Democrats famously said that 2% GDP growth was the new normal and that Trump’s 3+ percent promise was unattainable, the Atlanta Federal Reserve just announced a 5.4% annualized GDP estimate for Q1 2018.

The U.S. economy is on track to grow at a 5.4 percent annualized rate in the first quarter following the latest data on manufacturing and construction spending, the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow forecast model showed on Thursday.

Many workers have already felt the direct effects of Trump’s economic policy. 300+ companies have announced wage hikes and bonuses while publicly attributing the additional money for employees to the Trump tax cuts. Those wage increases, bonuses and the tax cuts that workers began to see in their paychecks Friday, referred to as “crumbs” by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, will continue to increase favorability for Republicans ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

The generic ballot surveys that gauge voter sentiment towards one party or another looked bleak in December with Democrats holding an 18-point lead over Republicans. The ill-thought government shutdown where Democrats chose illegal aliens over American workers and the increasingly positive economy has changed that. The latest survey showed Democrats up just 2 points and that poll was taken before Trump’s State of the Union Address that a huge majority of Americans liked.

The president is seeing his popularity rise as a result of his policies as well. His approval rating has jumped 10 points since August hitting 49%, the highest it has been since last May. His disapproval rating is the lowest since last March.

Now, the president is locked in a battle with Congressional Democrats who turned down a very generous immigration reform plan that 75% of Americans agreed with. As Democrats increasingly side with illegal immigrants while the president backs American families, that 2018 midterm election wave Democrats have been talking about just might drown them.