How Trump’s border policies are boosting wage growth

The left won’t admit it, but Friday’s employment report is yet more proof that President Trump’s policies have achieved in a little more than one year something progressive politicians have been championing for nearly forever: a fairly significant increase in the federal minimum wage.

Trump hasn’t officially agreed to raise the federal minimum wage above its current level of $7.25 an hour, but then again, he doesn’t have to. His policies are doing it all for him — including restricting illegal immigration.

A piece by The New York Times highlighted what’s happening in construction, where a labor shortage is pushing worker salaries to something like $25 an hour. But because the Times can’t stand to give Trump any credit, the story was framed that this shortage was a bad thing, a terrible burden for wealthy construction companies and contractors. What hypocrisy.

We can argue about efficacies of wall building in curtailing illegal immigration another time, but the numbers don’t lie: Friday’s employment report showed continued jobs gains and, lo and ­behold, a continued increase in wages. And not for hedge-fund managers, the report showed, but in those industries that employ the vast working class, such as health care, what’s known as leisure and hospitality and, of course, construction.

For years wages and benefits have remained stagnant on the low end despite all efforts by progressives from former President Barack Obama and various elected officials to increase the minimum wage and force employers to offer workers additional perks.