By Andrew Moran
President Donald Trump defended his economic record on Aug. 7 by presenting reporters with a series of charts on jobs and household income.
Appearing alongside economist Stephen Moore, co-founder of the advocacy group Committee to Unleash Prosperity, Trump highlighted the economy’s gains under his presidency and contrasted them with those under former President Joe Biden.
The first chart highlighted that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) overestimated job creation in 2023 and 2024 by almost 1.5 million, comprising 855,000 in benchmark revisions and 601,000 in monthly revisions.
“That’s a gigantic error,” Moore said in the Oval Office.
Trump suggested that it might not have been a mistake.
“That’s the bad part,” the president stated. “If it was an error, that’s one thing. I don’t think it’s an error.”
Moore, co-author of the book “Trumponomics,” responded that even if it were not done on purpose, “it’s incompetence.”
Last week, the bureau reported that the U.S. economy created a worse-than-expected 73,000 new jobs in July. The report also revealed combined downward revisions of 258,000 for May and June—the largest two-month adjustment since 1979.
Shortly after the July employment data was released, the president announced that he was terminating Erika McEntarfer, the bureau’s commissioner.
In recent years, the BLS has recorded sizable changes to the previous month’s non-farm payroll numbers. While it is common for the federal agency to make adjustments after collecting more data, the bureau stated that “revisions for May and June were larger than normal.”
Three charts examined the change in real (inflation-adjusted) median household income.
Using data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, Moore and his team determined that overall real median household income increased by almost $1,200 in June 2025.
Breaking down the numbers by income categories also depicts a sizable gap between the two presidents’ tenures.
For the 50th percentile—middle-income households—real median household income gains exceeded $6,400. The Biden economy registered a $551 income increase.
“Mr. President, you gained 10 times more income for the average family than Joe Biden, and that’s because of your policies,” Moore said.
Real median household income gains totaled $3,955 for the 25th percentile (low-income) during Trump’s first four years, compared to a $172 decline under Biden.
A $9,855 real-income gain was observed for the 75th percentile (high income) in Trump’s first four years, higher than the nearly $6,000 during the Biden administration.
The president called the numbers “incredible,” adding that if he had shared these figures, “nobody would have believed it.”
This is not the first time the White House has publicly espoused positive economic data.
In June, the Treasury Department reported that real blue-collar wage growth in the first five months of Trump’s second term registered the largest increase in nearly 60 years.
From January to June, real hourly earnings growth for production and non-supervisory workers advanced by 1.7 percent. During the same period under the Biden administration, real blue-collar wage growth declined by 1.7 percent.
Looking Back at Inflation
The outbreak of inflation that began in April 2021 ravaged U.S. households, reaching a four-decade high in June 2022.
Cumulatively, consumer prices increased by 20 percent, affecting everything from food and gasoline to housing. Americans’ purchasing power was eroded by about 17 percent. Real wage growth was negative 1.5 percent from January 2021 to December 2024, meaning inflation outpaced wage gains throughout most of Biden’s term.
Scores of reports—whether the Federal Reserve’s Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households or the Consumer Board’s Consumer Confidence Index—highlighted the public’s consternation surrounding the broader economy.
Despite economic growth and job creation, consumer sentiment remained low. In June 2022, the widely watched University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index reached its lowest point ever recorded, driven mainly by concerns about inflation.
Inflation and the economy became key 2024 election issues, ultimately helping Trump return to the White House for a second term.
A Gallup poll published one month before Americans headed to the polls showed the economy was the most important issue for 52 percent of voters—the highest since the Great Recession.
The survey also highlighted that a majority of registered voters believed Trump would better handle the economy than Vice President Kamala Harris.
