A leading contender to become President Trump’s next Federal Reserve chair said the administration expects larger tax refunds and higher take-home pay next year, as many Americans continue to express concerns about affordability.
During his Wednesday evening address, President Trump said the administration expects “the largest tax refund season of all time” next spring and claimed many families would save between $11,000 and $20,000 annually.
Hassett backed up this claim and pushed back against sentiment from a recent Fox News Poll, which found that 44% of those surveyed say they are falling behind financially, and 74% view the economy as “not so good” or “bad.”
“You saw in the jobs report that … wages for the typical worker were up 3.7%. So if you’re running 3.7% wage increases at 1.6% core inflation, then real wages are growing at a rate of about 2 [to] 2.5%. By our estimates right now, blue-collar workers have already seen an almost $2,000 raise this year after inflation, because wages are growing so much faster than prices,” Hassett explained.
