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The White House • May 7, 2018
The Day Ahead

• Vice President Mike Pence will address the situation in Venezuela at a meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington. Watch live at 1:25 p.m. ET.

• First Lady Melania Trump will hold a launch event to announce her core initiative as First Lady. Watch live at 3:00 p.m. ET.

One family’s letter to President Trump

President Donald J. Trump was in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday, talking with local residents about the impact of his December tax cuts legislation on jobs and wages. As of March, Cleveland alone has gained 3,300 new manufacturing jobs since the Trump Administration took office.

Working families across Ohio—and the Nation—have shared their stories with President Trump in recent months about the effect of tax cuts on their lives. Saturday was no different. Sharlene Thornton, a resident of the Ohio Valley, spoke about the difference several hundred dollars per paycheck can make for families working hard to get by.

“The reason I’m here is because I wrote a letter to you,” she told the President. “And I didn’t really think it was going to be read, but it was. They’re listening,” Mrs. Thornton said to the crowd in Cleveland.

Read Sharlene Thornton’s letter to President Trump.

Watch: The President talks with Ohioans about tax relief and the Trump economy.

Unemployment below 4 percent

More good news about the economy broke on Friday ahead of President Trump’s Ohio trip. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced in its April jobs report that the U.S. added 164,000 new jobs last month across sectors, including manufacturing (24,000 new jobs), construction (17,000), and mining and logging (8,000).

The unemployment rate broke below 4 percent for the first time since 2000 with all those new jobs. It also fell far below the pre-recession average of 5.3 percent.

Many groups that have struggled historically are seeing their prospects improve. The African-American unemployment rate hit its lowest average ever recorded, and the unemployment rate for adult women, 3.5 percent, is at its lowest level in more than 17 years.

See what you need to know about the April jobs report.

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