00:00 Speaker A
You know, we got strong GDP numbers. You have painted a powerful picture of the future. However, consumer confidence data for December released this morning showed that consumer sentiment has deteriorated to levels not seen since April. Well, a lot of people feel like things are expensive right now, but if we see more job growth, higher wages, as you’ve described, wouldn’t that help with the affordability issue? For lack of a better way of putting it, do Americans need to be a little more patient until the middle of next year?
00:37 Speaker B
American families have suffered tremendously over the past uh four years. Well, under the previous administration, living standards dropped. Yes, it takes time. But the good news is that the policies implemented by the president, specifically not taxing tips and overtime, will see after-tax wages rise significantly next year. All through November we’ve seen Jennifer, the real uh blue collar wages, which is in the agency data because I’m getting weirder, non-production supervisory worker wages have increased 16 years this year. This is one of the largest increases in the 60 years since the new government was founded. So, we just need to be patient because things are getting better. But we understand people’s frustration and the confidence index is weak. I think that’s partly a reflection of how bad the polls can be. I would say that what people do is more important than what they say. But if the economy continues to move forward, and we’ve been saying this for some time and the Secretary of State has made it very clear that 3% growth this year is very doable and no one thought it was that way at the time, then people will be very happy and a lot of the numbers will improve as we get into 26 and beyond.
