Main Street, consumer optimism will benefit workers, says head of small business lobby

Job Creators Network President Alfredo Ortiz on Monday praised the U.S. economy, saying the recent boost in consumer confidence will benefit workers.

“Consumer confidence and small business confidence, in particular, is sky high,” Ortiz told Hill.TV co-hosts Buck Sexton and Krystal Ball on “Rising.”

“That’s 30 million small business owners that employ 60 million hardworking Americans across this country, and they are all feeling good,” he said. “They are feeling great about the economy. They are feeling great about their jobs. And they’re feeling great about their jobs and their wages.”

Former Trump campaign adviser Stephen Moore, who also spoke Monday on “Rising,” addressed the issue of wage growth.

“You’re right, we need to get wages going,” Moore said. “The big deal for workers right now is they’re getting way more overtime pay because there’s such a tight labor market.”

He cited companies like Amazon, Disney and Walmart that have announced wage increases for their workers.

Trump has touted the pace of economic growth and improvements to the labor market, saying his policies have spurred those gains, many of which began during the Obama administration following the Great Recession that ended in June 2009.

Democrats say low- and middle-class workers are suffering from the effects of wage stagnation, increasing health-care costs and a lack of congressional action to boost infrastructure projects.

— Julia Manchester


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