President Donald J. Trump used his 2020 State of the Union address to reassure America and its stakeholders that the state of the union was stronger than ever before. Attributing most of the country’s success to a strong economy, the President boasted that not only was the US financially stable, but it was also well on track to continue its path of expansion throughout his fourth year in the Oval Office.
The American economy maintained a GDP above the 2% mark throughout 2019 and growing bond yields in the fourth quarter effectively put any fears of a possible recession to rest. With many other industrialized countries still struggling with negative yields, positive trade deals and a cut in federal interest rates turned the tide for the USA. New agreements with China, Canada and Mexico have been finalized in the past couple of months and while these deals not only deliver on the Trump administration’s promise to protect American workers, they have also stimulated the economy by promoting and expanding American interests.
Job growth was a further focal point of President Trump’s address and he was proud to mention the country’s solid job growth and resulting record low unemployment rate of 3.5%. American workers have also been enjoying increased wages and according to the President, low- and middle-income families have particularly been benefitting from his policies. Referring to a so-called “Blue Collar Boom,” the President stated that low-income workers had experienced an estimated 16% increase in their wages and the net worth of the entire bottom-half of wage earners had increased by 47% since the start of his term.
The high wages and low unemployment rate have also resulted in optimistic financial sentiment among ordinary Americans and according to President Trump, consumer confidence has reached “…amazing new heights”. The President linked much of this positive sentiment to American companies expanding their interests into areas that had not experienced growth in many decades and he believes that this has created optimism and excitement amongst Americans. The fourth quarter of 2019 also saw consumer confidence reach near-historic levels with durable goods experiencing an increase of 5% and shows no indication of slowing down in the first quarter of 2020.
A strong economy is central to President Trumps re-election campaign and as a result, stakeholders believe that the Trump administration will continue to work hard to both maintain and increase the country’s economic prosperity. The President has not been able to meet all the economic milestones he promised when campaigning for his first term and will therefore aim to achieve as many of these before Americans head to the voting polls on 3 November.
