Karl W. Smith, Columnist

Trump’s Economy Isn’t as Strong as the Jobs Numbers Suggest

The U.S. economy is better than it has been for almost two decades — but only in relative terms.

January 16, 2020 at 11:00 AM UTC

Karl W. Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Previously, he was vice president for federal policy at the Tax Foundation and assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina.

The economy is this high, but it could go higher.
Photographer: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

For much of Donald Trump’s presidency, the economy’s historically low unemployment rate has coexisted with the president’s historically low approval rating. “The fact that we have the strongest economy in 50 years and he’s stuck at 43% approval ought to scream volumes for his language and his overreach,” one Republican pollster said recently.

That’s one explanation. There is another: The U.S. economy, far from being the strongest in 50 years, is not nearly as strong as the numbers would suggest.