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The Trump administration is marking Labor Day by pointing to falling gas prices and rising wages, casting its economic record as a win for American workers.
“What we’re seeing is unemployment definitely holding steady, but we’re seeing real wages up. We’re seeing blue-collar wages up 1.4%, consumer confidence is up,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Monday on “Fox & Friends.”
This comes as headlines point to the lowest Labor Day gas prices since 2020 and the equal-weight S&P 500 logging its “longest winning streak in years,” according to market data.
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Though the Trump administration is confident it set the stage for such positive outcomes through deregulation and increased energy output, not everyone agrees on the cause.
Analysts in a CNN report on gas prices, including CIBC Private Wealth senior energy trader Rebecca Babin, pointed to Saudi Arabia-led OPEC’s willingness to ramp up production as a key factor.
At the same time, the White House is pushing its “America First” vision, framing gas prices, wage growth, and consumer confidence as proof that workers are better off under President Donald Trump’s leadership.
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During her “Fox & Friends” appearance, Chavez-DeRemer emphasized Trump’s focus on apprenticeships, Pell Grant expansion, and tax relief as evidence of long-term investment in the labor force.
“He is reclaiming Labor Day through the America First policies, so that’s why we’re seeing prices go down,” she said, touting the spending package provisions he signed into law this year. “No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. Every one of those decisions was for the American worker.”
Chavez-DeRemer is continuing her 50-state tour across the U.S., appearing in a Labor Day parade in Pennsylvania on Monday to celebrate the American worker firsthand.
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But beyond the national data points and market headlines, Chavez-DeRemer argued that the administration’s economic vision also involves reaching workers directly.
“The president wants one million active apprentices, so I’m on the ground talking to the trades, talking to the firefighters, talking to law enforcement,” she said. “I was just in New England on a six-state swing in four days. Talking to submarine shipyard builders. People are excited about the investments that the president is making.”
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