Thursday, June 11, 2026

May Jobs Report Beats Forecasts as Business Tax Policy Lifts Hiring, Fox Host Says

Larry Kudlow credits supply-side tax relief for 172,000 May payrolls and rising native-born employment, arguing profit growth drives wage gains.

By the Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk·Thursday, June 11, 2026·2 min read
Editorial summary of reporting byfoxbusiness.comOur editorial standards →
May Jobs Report Beats Forecasts as Business Tax Policy Lifts Hiring, Fox Host Says
Image: editorial illustration · Story sourced from foxbusiness.com

The U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs in May, twice the level predicted by economists, according to Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, who described business conditions as booming. The three-month average stood at 188,000 positions, with April and March payrolls revised upward by a combined 93,000. Kudlow attributed the outperformance to corporate tax relief enacted under the Trump administration, including 100 percent depreciation allowances and reduced corporate and small-business tax rates.

Kudlow emphasised that job creation stems from profitable enterprises rather than consumer spending, a view he said contradicts the perspective of most economists and media commentators. He argued that businesses must generate surplus capital before they can expand payrolls or increase compensation. The unemployment rate in May registered 4.3 percent, a level that historically signals a tight labour market with limited spare capacity.

Wage growth continues to outpace inflation despite a temporary uptick linked to geopolitical tensions in Iran, Kudlow said. Average hourly earnings climbed 3.4 percent over the past year, while aggregate hours worked rose 0.9 percent. He added those figures together to derive total wage income growth of 4.3 percent, which exceeded the 3.8 percent consumer price index for the same period. Kudlow noted that many analysts fail to combine hourly earnings and hours worked, leading to incomplete assessments of household income trends.

The composition of employment gains has shifted markedly over the past twelve months. Foreign-born workers declined by more than 100,000, while native-born employment surged by nearly 400,000. Kudlow also reported no measurable job displacement from artificial intelligence to date, a concern that has featured prominently in recent labour-market commentary.

Profit growth remains the critical driver of both hiring and wage increases, Kudlow argued, describing profits as the lifeblood of the economy and the foundation of equity markets. He said macroeconomists, particularly those from northeastern and bicoastal universities, underestimate the centrality of corporate earnings. Graduates of those institutions who enter journalism often perpetuate the misunderstanding, he added.

The logic of job creation flows from profitable businesses to higher wages and then to household spending, Kudlow explained. When a company earns excess returns, it can afford to hire additional workers and raise compensation. Those wages become the income that families allocate to consumption around the kitchen table, he said. Consumer spending, in his view, is a downstream consequence rather than an independent engine of growth.

Kudlow invoked former congressman Jack Kemp, who once said that Democrats like jobs but dislike the businesses that create them. He noted that the Trump administration's tax legislation included relief for individuals as well as corporations, covering tips, overtime pay, Social Security benefits, and income earned by seniors. All of those provisions were packaged into what Kudlow described as one big beautiful bill.

Looking ahead, Kudlow predicted that profit expansion will fuel wage growth and economic acceleration beyond current consensus estimates. He said corporate earnings are booming, and that momentum will translate into skyrocketing wages and faster gross domestic product gains. He closed by urging Republican candidates to emphasise these themes in the upcoming midterm elections.

Original reporting
foxbusiness.com
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