❓WHAT HAPPENED: Blue-collar workers have experienced a 1.7 percent real wage increase in the first five months of President Donald J. Trump’s second term, the largest increase for any presidential administration in nearly 60 years.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, blue-collar workers, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

📍WHEN & WHERE: The wage growth occurred across the United States from December 2024 to May 2025.

💬KEY QUOTE: “We’ve seen real wages for hourly workers, non-supervisory workers, rise almost 2 percent in the first five months. … No president has done that before.” – Scott Bessent.

🎯IMPACT: Blue-collar workers are seeing significant wage growth, reversing decades of stagnation and decline under previous administrations.

Blue-collar workers saw real wage growth of 1.7 percent in the first five months of President Donald J. Trump’s second term, marking the largest increase for any administration in nearly 60 years. The wage growth sharply contrasts with the negative growth experienced under former President Joe Biden, according to the latest U.S. Department of the Treasury data.

Since Richard Nixon in 1969, Trump is the only president to record positive growth for blue-collar workers in the first five months of his term. During his first term, Trump also achieved a 1.3 percent increase. The current wage growth recovery follows a 1.7 percent decline during Biden’s initial months in office, when inflation outpaced earnings.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent highlighted the achievement, stating, “We’ve seen real wages for hourly workers, non-supervisory workers, rise almost two percent in the first five months. … No President has done that before.” He attributed the improvement to falling inflation, which has increased take-home pay, as well as Trump’s focus on manufacturing and efforts to remove illegal immigrants from the workforce. “Biden opened the border, and it was flooded,” Bessent said, adding: “And for working Americans, that’s a disaster because it’s pressure on their wages.”

Trump’s tariff policy has also been designed to make American workers more competitive relative to cheap labor overseas, causing several major companies to reshore production to the U.S.

🚨 @SecScottBessent says blue-collar wages under President Trump have seen the highest increase in nearly 60 years.

“We’ve see real wages for hourly workers, nonsupervisory workers, rise almost 2% in the first five months. No president has done that before.” pic.twitter.com/7rDOpf1v9U

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 17, 2025

The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines blue-collar workers as non-supervisory and production workers. Year-to-date wage growth for this group from December 2024 to May 2025 is more than double the 0.8 percent growth seen during Nixon’s administration. Comparatively, Barack Obama’s first term saw a 0.3 percent decline, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush each recorded a 0.6 percent decline, and Ronald Reagan saw a 0.9 percent decline. George H.W. Bush oversaw a 3.0 percent decline, while Jimmy Carter’s administration recorded zero growth.

Trump’s administration is also pushing for the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which it argues will further boost blue-collar wage growth. The bill includes measures such as eliminating federal income taxes not only on tips, but on overtime pay for over 80 million hourly workers, while providing tax incentives for manufacturers to build factories in the United States.

These initiatives are expected to create up to six million jobs in construction and manufacturing, reversing decades of offshoring.

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