Wages are up again – do workers really want to elect Democratic tax-hikers?

Election Day is just around the corner. Republicans are now expected to hold the U.S. Senate. Most forecasters still expect Democrats to take over the House, but it might be close. Democrats need to net 24 seats; they are expected to gain between 20 and 40.

So why might this year’s midterm elections deviate from the “shellackings” of 2010 and 2014? The most important difference is probably the fact that the economy is basically off the table as an issue. Despite the stock market’s recent tough times, the components of the economy that ordinary people tend to feel first are doing very well and seem likely to continue. Employment is up by more than 4 million jobs since President Trump’s election. Unemployment is plumbing new depths at 3.7 percent, despite a growing labor force. Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high, and the number of available jobs exceeds the number of estimated job seekers.

Typically, when the economy starts doing this well under a Republican president, Democrats and their allies in the media complain that the jobs being created are “McJobs” – menial, low-wage jobs that (they claim) are little better than unemployment or welfare. But this time, they’re not even making that argument. Nor can they plausibly make such a claim, as this week brings yet another report of rising pay for U.S. workers.

Wages and salaries were up 3.1 percent in the third quarter, the Labor Department reported this week. That’s the biggest increase since before Barack Obama was elected president. Companies are having a hard time finding and keeping workers, and so they’re being forced to offer higher pay in order to attract them. This is how the free market sometimes works in workers’ favor.

Like all other things, both skilled and unskilled labor is valued according to the laws of supply and demand. And both are very much in demand right now. ADP, the private payroll company, estimates an October rise in private sector employment of 227,000 jobs – well above expectations. And if Trump’s trade war with China can be ended soon, the growth and prosperity is expected to continue into next year.