White House Responds to Inflation Outpacing Earnings
Left 0%
Center 0%
Right 100%
0 left · 0 center · 2 right
What happened
Following the August U.S. employment report, White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Christopher Phelan said Friday on Bloomberg's "Open Interest" that the payrolls data were a "blowout" and that the country has a strong labor market. Co-host Michael McKee noted that average hourly earnings rose 3.1 percent in August, below CPI inflation of 3.4 percent and PCE inflation of 3.7 percent, with gasoline at $4.15 a gallon. Phelan replied that he focuses on average weekly earnings — hourly pay plus hours worked — and that those weekly earnings are "outstripping inflation" because hours have risen. Asked whether the White House had further anti-inflation measures after tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and after the president agreed to allow more beef imports, Phelan said inflation "is a Fed thing," citing Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, in office 100 days, who has said inflation has been above the Fed's target for 65 straight months, and adding that he would "leave it with" Warsh; Phelan also said world markets expect crude oil prices to fall. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett separately said inflation is under control and that the Trump administration respects the Federal Reserve's independence.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 4 articles
2 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 2 of 2
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Christopher Phelan
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 0 of 2
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: None cited.
- Credits another outlet 0 of 2
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 2
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 5, 01:46 UTC by Breitbart, naming its source.
- Not counted 2
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage presents White House officials as simply celebrating a strong jobs report and saying inflation is contained. It notes Phelan calling August payrolls a "blowout" and Hassett stressing Fed independence, but omits the challenge that hourly pay trails prices. It also omits Phelan's reply that extra hours put weekly earnings above inflation, and that further price policy belongs to the Fed. Right-leaning coverage leads with those exchanges and never mentions Hassett. Without the pushback, the story reads as a victory lap rather than a defense of take-home pay.
Left-leaning coverage leads with job creation and a claim that inflation is under control. Right-leaning coverage instead opens on hourly earnings versus prices, and on whether the White House still has tools to bring costs down.
Did extra hours actually lift weekly pay above inflation, and by how much?
Bottom line
Bloomberg billed a blowout jobs report; it never ran Phelan answering a lagging-hourly-pay question by citing extra hours and leaving inflation to the Fed.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Phelan said that combining hours and wages, average weekly earnings are outstripping inflation
- Average hourly earnings were 3.1% in August while CPI inflation was 3.4%
- Phelan said inflation has been above the Fed's target for 65 straight months
- Gasoline was cited at $4.15
- Hassett said the Trump administration respects the independence of the Federal Reserve
The Left View
Bloomberg led with the administration's upbeat reading: Phelan's description of a "blowout" payrolls report and a strong labor market, and Hassett's claim that inflation is under control. The same coverage highlighted Hassett's assurance that the Trump administration respects Federal Reserve independence, and noted that Phelan also discussed inflation, interest rates, and energy prices.
The Right View
Breitbart framed the same interview as a rebuttal to cost-of-living criticism. It stressed Phelan's line that "what matters to people is what they bring home at the end of the week" and that rising hours mean weekly earnings are beating inflation, plus his deferral of further price policy to the Fed after Warsh said "inflation's on us, inflation is a Fed thing." It kept the interviewer's contrast between a White House focus on jobs created and Americans "focusing on their earnings and the cost of living."
Our Take (balanced)
Phelan's strongest argument is definitional and tied to the payrolls print: if hours are up, weekly take-home pay can outpace inflation even when hourly earnings do not, which he presents as what workers actually bring home. The strongest contrary point, carried in the questions Breitbart reproduced, is that hourly pay still trails both CPI and PCE while gasoline sits at $4.15, so a jobs-count "blowout" may not match household experience. The central unresolved tension is whether rising hours plus a strong August report mean workers are getting ahead, or whether inflation still above wage growth and the Fed's target — which Phelan assigns to Warsh, not the White House — is the more accurate account of the same data.
4 sources
More stories
The week's bottom lines, in your inbox
One email a week: the five stories that mattered and what they actually mean. Free.