Trump’s Tight Labor Market Delivers Wage Increases for Wisconsin Rust Belt

BOSTON, MA - MARCH 6: A construction worker works on a beam at The Hub on Causeway next to
Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

American workers are seeing rising wages in western and central Wisconsin, just one of the rust belt states that President Trump won in the 2016 presidential election on his platform of economic nationalism.

In the latest survey of 150 employers in the western and central region of Wisconsin, the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce found that wages in 35 “benchmark jobs” have increased a total of 3.7 percent for workers. Compare this wage increase to last year’s, which stood at 2.99 percent for the region.

“Accordingly, actual average pay increase percentages awarded were up from last year as well,” Deborah Marshall, a senior manager at Wipfli who worked on the survey said in a statement.

Manufacturing workers’ pay represented the largest portion of the wage survey in the region, making up 43 percent of employers and 50 percent of the rates of pay. Also included in the wage survey were healthcare businesses, financial firms, and non-profits.

The wage survey looked at the base level pay of 18,000 workers and 150 job titles.

In a recent interview with CNBC, senior adviser to President Trump, Ivanka Trump, spoke about the benefits of a tight labor market.

“A tight labor market is good,” Ivanka said. “Wages are finally going up for the American worker. We see unemployment at, obviously, historic lows.”

As Breitbart News has chronicled, Trump’s tight labor market has delivered wage increases and job opportunities for disenfranchised Americans. Most recently, the tight labor market helped reintegrate retirees back into the workforce.

There has also been history-making wage growth for American workers in the construction industry, the garment industry, for workers employed at small businessesblack Americans, and restaurant workers.

The tight labor market has also secured higher wages for overtime workers and high-paying, coveted white-collar jobs for American teenagers. Most recently, Breitbart News reported that the construction industry has had to recruit women to take jobs at higher wages rather than hiring illegal aliens. A Chick-Fil-A in California has even raised wages to $18 an hour to retain workers.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. 

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