Since President Joe Biden took office, the U.S. has recovered faster with lower inflation than any other major free-market economy. We’ve added more than 13 million jobs in that time versus negative 2.6 million under Donald Trump. This includes 800,000 new manufacturing jobs versus a loss of 170,000 manufacturing jobs under Trump.

More growth in manufacturing is expected as the investments spurred on by government policy bear fruit. Unemployment is 3.8%, a number that hasn’t been seen in 50 years. Workforce participation for 25- to 54-year-olds is the highest in two decades. There are 1.5 jobs available for every person looking for work. Wages have been growing faster than inflation. Inflation in the past 12 months was down to 3.2%. U.S. Gross Domestic Product growth is moving and likely to be more than 5% in the third quarter, a number that is rarely reached.

The Biden agenda has spurred nearly half a trillion dollars in private sector manufacturing investment, mainly because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. On the other hand, the 2017 Trump tax cut for corporations did nothing to increase manufacturing investment. The Republicans’ supply-side vision was – and is – a failure, while the Democrats’ demand-side policies have proven effective.

Investing in infrastructure and programs that help ordinary Americans put money and the power of innovation into their hands, drives the economy from the bottom up and the middle out. Bidenonomics is working for the average American.

Chris Blackshear

Durango