Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 15, 2019 AMERICAN WORKERS ARE THRIVING THANKS TO PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP’S MIDDLE CLASS TAX CUTS   “In everything we do and every action we take, we’re putting America first, and we are putting American workers first, for the first time in a long time.” – President Donald J. Trump   HELPING THE MIDDLE CLASS GET AHEAD: As President Donald J. Trump promised, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has delivered real savings for America’s middle class.  An average family of four with an income of $75,000 will have their taxes cut by more than $2,000 in 2018 thanks to the TCJA. On average, a single parent with one child making $41,000 a year will see a tax cut of more than $1,300, representing a more than 70 percent reduction in their tax bill. The TCJA nearly doubled the standard deduction, helping the vast majority of middle class families who claim this deduction. The TCJA eliminated the individual mandate penalty, which disproportionately affected low and middle income households. The TCJA kept key deductions that help middle class families, while eliminating and capping certain deductions that especially benefited high income households and special interests.  MORE JOBS FOR AMERICAN WORKERS: President Trump’s tax cuts have generated more and more employment opportunities for American workers. Since passage of the tax cuts, job openings have reached a record high, unemployment has fallen to historic lows, and workers have come off the sidelines and back into the labor force. Job openings reached a record high of 7.6 million last year and continue to far exceed the number of job seekers. Job openings have now outnumbered job seekers for 12 consecutive months. The unemployment rate reached a near 50-year low last fall, on the heels of enactment of the TCJA. The unemployment rate has remained at or below 4 percent for the last 13 months. Workers that had been left behind and on the sidelines are coming back into the labor force and finding employment. In the first quarter of 2019, more than 70 percent of the workers gaining employment came from outside of the labor force. BIGGER PAYCHECKS: The TCJA is helping to put more money in workers’ pockets through lower tax bills, rising wages, and big bonuses. In response to the tax cuts, companies have provided wage increases, bonuses, or increased retirement contributions to more than 6 million workers. Workers have received an average bonus of $1,154, according to the Council of Economic Advisers. In an attempt to attract workers, many companies have increased their minimum wages or offered better benefits to new employees. In 2018, wage growth was fastest among low-income workers.   Wages are rising faster than they have in nearly a decade and is outpacing inflation, meaning more money in workers’ pockets. Year-over-year nominal wage growth has reached, and exceeded, 3 percent for the first time since 2009. ###