The global pandemic plunged the entire world into economic free fall and societal unrest. Since then, one notable country has emerged successfully to stabilize global markets and calm fears—it’s the United States, which has maintained the lowest inflation rate of any major nation.
Let’s look at measurements from ten major metrics that demonstrate how the American Recovery has benefited the lives of millions since the pandemic.
1. WAGE GROWTH IS RISING FASTER THAN INFLATION
Incomes for workers are at an all-time high and have been rising for four years. Last year marked the largest average wage increase in recorded US history, with salary increases exceeding inflation for the first time since 2020, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Employers reported an average salary increase of 4.4% in 2023, during a year when annual inflation rose 3.1%—and they plan to give raises of 4.0% this year, while many experts predict inflation will dip below 3%.
Another notable trend was uncovered by the Economist, which recently exclaimed in a headline that “Gen Z are now wealthier than any previous generation.”
2. ‘MADE IN THE USA’ – A MANUFACTURING BOOM
A manufacturing boom is taking hold across America: in two years, companies have announced hundreds of billions of dollars in manufacturing investments—many in technology and renewable energy—which are bringing back supply chains from overseas and creating good-paying jobs, many of which don’t require a four-year degree.
Since 1990, the US went went from producing nearly 40% of the world’s semiconductor chips to near 0 percent in 2022. Thanks to investments in the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, that global share could rise to 28% in eight years.
When the pandemic shut down the semiconductor chips factories overseas, the prices of so many products went up because these chips power so much of our lives—from smartphones to dishwashers and cars. That semiconductor shortage drove one third of the surge in inflation in 2021, according to the White House, and caused long wait lines for all kinds of products—which is why the Democrats in Congress joined Republicans in passing the CHIPS bill.
$825 billion in private-sector investments have been pledged to U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging facilities, and creating a chipmaking ecosystem. [Micron is building factories in New York and Idaho; in Arizona, TSMC is building in Phoenix; Samsung is building in Taylor and Austin, Texas; Intel is building in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon; Global Foundries will expand in New York and Vermont; Microchip Technology is erecting in Colorado and Oregon; Polar Semiconductor is expanding in Minnesota—and BAE Systems is springing up in New Hampshire.]
3. LOWEST UNEMPLOYMENT IN HALF-CENTURY
The unemployment rate has stayed below 4 percent for two years straight, the best such record since the 1960s.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 invested $300 billion into repairing and rebuilding America’s roads and bridges—the largest investment since President Eisenhower—which contributed to the total of nearly 15 million jobs created since 2021, including 750,000 manufacturing jobs.
4. CRIME DROPS TO HISTORIC LOWS
Crime in the US has been falling fast—all kinds of crime—and nearly all over the country. Recent FBI Uniform Crime Reporting surveys show rates of murder and rape have dropped by more than 25% in 2024—and property crime also decreased by over 15 percent in data collected from more than 18,000 city, county, state, tribal, university and federal law enforcement agencies.
For instance, Detroit is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1966, and Baltimore and St Louis are tallying the fewest murders in each city in nearly a decade. Chicago was also hailing double-digit percentage declines in the number of homicides and shootings. More broadly, in more than 180 cities murder was down around 20% in 2023, compared to the previous year.
5. STOCK MARKET BREAKING RECORDS
Millions of Americans have invested their savings and retirement pensions in the stock market—which keeps breaking all-time records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average in December broke 37,000 for the first time, and today it’s over 39,000. One analyst described it as “33% percent higher than any sustained peak in US history—and 5-10 times higher than where it was for most of the last half century.” The S&P 500 broke 32 all-time records this year, while the Nasdaq also climbed to a record high, reaching 17,000 for the first time in June—and it keeps surging.
6. HEALTH AND PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS
Despite the absence of universal health care, the US has managed to slash its uninsured rate to 7.7 percent, the lowest in its history and a steep decline from 14.5% in late 2020. And now the government is muscling down drug prices.
For the first time, Medicare is negotiating the price of certain high-cost drugs. Another improvement is that Medicare beneficiaries now pay $0 out-of-pocket for recommended adult vaccines like the shingles shots. Also in 2024, Medicare seniors’ out-of-pocket expenses at the pharmacy will be capped at $2,000 per year, for the first time ever.
A month’s supply of insulin for seniors is now capped at $35 nationwide—and inhalers are now capped at $35—saving everyday people hundreds of dollars per month.
7. CONTINUOUS BUSINESS GROWTH
America’s economy has been the “envy of the world”, and in 2023 was growing faster than any other county. As inflation keeps falling, healthy consumer spending—almost 70% of nominal GDP—is continuously supported by real wage growth.
Another sure sign of its strong economy is the unprecedented small business boom. A record number of small business applications in the past three years have seen an unprecedented number of entrepreneurs open up shop in their homes or on Main Streets across America.
U.S. Census Bureau data, which has tracked business formations since 2004, showed that nearly 16 million new business applications recorded since the start of 2021, the most ever counted in a multi-year period.
8. OPTIMISM AND VIBES
And people are starting to feel the good vibes. Americans are feeling better about the economy for the first time in four months.
US consumer sentiment rose markedly toward the end of March, supported by strong stock-market gains and expectations that inflation will continue to ease.
The University of Michigan’s sentiment index climbed to 79.4 from 76.5 earlier in the month, reaching the highest since 2021.
Citizens in Southern border states may become more optimistic, now that the flow of undocumented immigrants over the Mexican border has dramatically slowed. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that the number of undocumented migrants crossing into the U.S. dropped by 50% in January. And in the three weeks since the new White House executive order took effect, the Border Patrol’s 7-day encounter average has decreased more than 40% to under 2,400 encounters per day.
9. RENEWABLE ENERGY IS SURGING
With new projects coming online this year, solar power generation is expected to increase 75% this year, with wind power growing by 11%.
In 2023, renewable energy sources—wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and geothermal—accounted for 22% of the total electricity generated, and surpassed coal generation for the first time in 2022.
“More records were broken in March as wind plus solar produced more electricity than either nuclear power or coal—and solar was on the verge of overtaking hydropower,” executive director Ken Bossong of the nonprofit SUN DAY Campaign, told Electrek. “The mix of renewables provided almost 30% of US electrical generation in March and seems likely to surpass that level in the coming months.”
A win-win for job creation, the Department of Energy reports there are just over 8 million jobs in renewable energy today, and in 2021 and 2022, energy jobs grew faster than overall U.S. employment.
10. HIGH SCHOOL RATES OF GRADUATION, SMOKING AND PREGNANCY PLUMMET
And, finally, despite challenges, today’s youth in America are making some good decisions.
- The high school graduation rate is the highest ever recorded.
- Teenage pregnancy rates are now at all-time low.
- Tobacco and e-cigarette use declined.
- And, more teens than you think understand the positive and negative aspects of smartphones.
So, from the economy to crime, jobs to financials—and many of the vibes, the American Recovery is impossible to deny.
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