A lone Wolff takes a bite of the US presidency

Washington

THE contrast between the economic and political mood could not have been more dramatic when one glanced at the front pages of American newspapers over the weekend. There were those upbeat headlines celebrating the country's robust economic recovery that was finally beginning to benefit the service and blue-collar workers, including in construction, manufacturing and mining. They are the "forgotten men and women" in the rust belts of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania who have been most in need of relief, and whom Candidate Donald Trump had promised to assist when he ran for office in 2016.

Indeed, a report issued last Friday by the US Labour Department shows an increase of 148,000 jobs last month, with the jobless rate at a 17-year low while hourly earnings were 2.5 per cent higher in December compared with the year before.