Wages for private-sector workers outpaced inflation by roughly $1,400 during President Donald Trump’s first year in office, according to the White House, after runaway inflation crushed Americans’ buying power during the Biden administration.
The White House touted a nearly $1,400 increase in real wages for private-sector workers following the release of the January Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, which showed prices were up just 2.4 percent from January 2025.
“Today’s expectation-beating CPI report proves that President Trump has defeated Joe Biden’s inflation crisis: overall inflation fell, and real wages grew by $1,400 in President Trump’s first year in office,” White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai said in a statement.
“Housing inflation notably continues to cool, while prescription drug prices actually fell in 2025 — with even more price relief ahead for American patients thanks to President Trump’s Most Favored Nation drug pricing deals and the Great Healthcare Plan,” he added.
Desai said the U.S. “economy is set to turbocharge even further through long-overdue interest rate cuts from the Fed.”
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Trump noted in December that real wages under Biden had shrunk by $3,000 for private-sector workers. The $1,400 increase Trump has overseen accounts for nearly half of the loss workers endured under the previous administration.
Real wages have grown $2,400 for miners, $2,100 for construction workers, $1,700 for those working in manufacturing, and $1,700 for “goods producing workers,” according to the White House.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans’ average weekly paycheck buys more since Trump’s return to office, whereas the amount of goods and services it could buy dropped under Biden:
The rising wages come as the Trump administration oversaw the removal of at least 2.5 million illegal aliens in year one.
“Joe Biden crashed the economy,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday. “Whether it was Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, these policies were a disaster for the American people. As I said, 21.5 percent cumulative inflation, loss of real purchasing power.”
Bessent said there are two solutions to address the affordability problems that manifested under the Biden administration: reducing prices and increasing income.
“We saw real wage growth in 2025. I think it could be very strong in 2026, and I think the American people are going to start feeling it,” he added.
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