Economist E.J. Antoni, senior fellow at Unleashed Prosperity, said Thursday that new economic data show earnings growth is outpacing inflation.
But he argued that Americans are still recovering from losses he attributed to the Biden administration and should not be expected to wait patiently after years of financial strain.
When asked on Newsmax's "American Agenda" for his view of the economy after President Donald Trump in his Wednesday night address urged Americans to be patient and said good news is coming, Antoni pointed to data released Thursday morning and said paychecks are stretching further than they did at the start of the year.
"Based not only on what the president said last night, but also on the latest data that we got this morning, ... we have seen this year earnings growth outpace inflation," Antoni said. "In other words, not only is the average American's paycheck bigger, but it also buys more.
"It buys about 1.6% more than it did in January when the president took office."
Antoni contrasted that with what he said happened under President Joe Biden.
"During those four years, what the average American could actually buy with their weekly paycheck fell about 4%," Antoni said.
He said the figures suggest conditions are improving but that households have not fully recovered.
"That tells us a couple of things, one of which is the fact that, yes, things are getting better," Antoni said.
"We were heading in the wrong direction. Now we're heading in the right direction.
"But the second thing it tells us — and this is why I think the administration is asking folks to be patient — it also tells us that we're not yet back, if you will. In other words, Americans have not yet been made whole after the losses of the Biden administration," he added.
Antoni said the administration's message to wait does not reflect what families have already experienced.
"It's not just a matter of saying, Please wait the year and a half it's going to take us to fix this problem, because the American people have already been waiting for years under the Biden administration, during which time things were only getting worse," he said.
Antoni also said some economists misunderstood where job losses were occurring.
"I think one of the things that so many of these so-called economists really missed is the fact that the pain in the Trump administration is not being felt equally," he said.
"It's being concentrated among groups like government bureaucrats and among illegal aliens."
He cited federal workforce figures as evidence of change in employment patterns.
"For example, in the latest employment numbers we've seen the federal workforce shrink this year down to its lowest level in more than a decade," Antoni said.
"Every single month of this administration, they've been able to reduce the number of bureaucrats in the federal workforce."
Antoni praised that development and framed it as a shift toward private-sector employment.
"That is fabulous news. It's good for the taxpayer," he said. "It means less money going out the door.
"But the fact of the matter is we are shifting resources away from the unproductive public sector and towards the productive private sector.
"We are seeing more Americans employed in the real economy. And I, for one, think that's a good thing."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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