PolitiFact ‏ Mar 10 Donald Trump is wrong about wage trends, again.

[riversedge]

He said on the stump again yesterday also.

Link to tweet

False
Trump
"When I was campaigning, I was talking about 18 and 20 years (when) wages effectively went down. Now, for the first time in a long time, they're starting to go up for people."

— Donald Trump on Thursday, March 8th, 2018 in remarks before a Cabinet meeting
Donald Trump is wrong about wage trends

By Louis Jacobson on Friday, March 9th, 2018 at 9:00 a.m.

President Donald Trump at a cabinet meeting on March 8, 2018, with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, Trump, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Before meeting with his Cabinet, President Donald Trump held court with the reporters assembled at the White House. Among other topics, Trump discussed some of the economic achievements on his watch:

"Wages are rising at the fastest pace in more than a decade, something that people have been waiting for, as you know. When I was campaigning, I was talking about 18 and 20 years, and wages effectively went down. Now, for the first time in a long time, they're starting to go up for people."

Previously, we rated a similar statement by Trump about rising wages "finally" coming "after years of wage stagnation" as Mostly False.................................





Our ruling

Trump said, "When I was campaigning, I was talking about 18 and 20 years (when) wages effectively went down. Now, for the first time in a long time, they're starting to go up for people."

Wage growth during the two-decade period Trump is referencing was modest, even sluggish, but wages didn’t go down over that period, even accounting for inflation. As for wages finally going up now, they rose for almost three years before Trump took office, so it’s not credible for him to imply that he deserves credit.

We rate the statement False.