Kohler’s Charts – Data Defies Trump Gloom

By Alan Kohler | More Articles by Alan Kohler

Last Tuesday, the President-elect Donald Trump declared that “we’re living through the greatest jobs theft in the history of the world”, which sits rather oddly with today’s chart, showing that the US is basically at full employment – that is, that the unemployment rate has arrived at the statistical “natural rate”.

The Federal Reserve Board meets this week, and the expectation that it will increase interest rates for the second time – exactly 12 months after the first hike – is unanimous: 100% of economists surveyed by Bloomberg are predicting a hike of 0.25% in the Fed funds rate. Growth is looking better, inflation is on the way back and wages are rising as a result of low unemployment. Donald Trump got in with his doom and gloom message just in time.

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About Alan Kohler

As well as being the founder of The Constant Investor, Alan is currently business editor at large of The Australian, finance presenter on ABC news, presenter of the Talking Business channel on Qantas inflight radio and adjunct professor in the business faculty of Victoria University.

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