Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Politics
Economics

Jobs Are Booming in Trump Country, But Pay Lags

  • Expansion picks up in rural areas in Trump’s first two years
  • Blue America continues to lead on pay increases, GDP growth
Trump country has benefited from a sharp rebound in energy production after hard times in the industry at the end of the Obama administration.

Trump country has benefited from a sharp rebound in energy production after hard times in the industry at the end of the Obama administration.

Photographer: Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg
By

Jobs are now growing at a faster rate in Trump country than they are in the Democratic-leaning urban and coastal areas that long had been a main driver of the U.S. economic expansion.

During the first 21 months of Donald Trump’s presidency, the 2,622 mostly rural and exurban counties he won in the 2016 election added jobs at twice the pace they did during the previous two years under the Obama administration and at a slightly higher rate than the 490 counties that supported Democrat Hillary Clinton.