U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent says economy not where Trump admin wants to be, but points to encouraging metrics

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Gas prices are a dollar higher today than they were a year ago. Interest rates are also up. Egg prices, though, are down in the last twelve months, as is unemployment. It’s a mixed bag, but overall affordability and the cost of living remain a major issue for voters this election cycle.

In a conversation Monday with ABC13, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the economy is not where the Trump administration wants it to be. But he points to signs of improvement and suggests that once the war with Iran is over—prices will come down.

“We are seeing an industrial renaissance, a manufacturing renaissance," he said. "We're seeing manufacturing jobs come back, construction jobs come back. And we have seen real wage growth. Again, it's not what we're shooting for, but I think under the circumstances of this energy price spike, having achieved 1% real wage growth since the administration came in is much better than what we saw in the previous administration, and, you know, I think we are going to continue to see the economy accelerate.”

Whether it's affordability, healthcare, income, or interest rates, Texans have said those issues, all under the umbrella of the overall economy, are influencing their votes.

Secretary Bessent said the metrics are not where they want them, but they see encouraging signs. That’s despite the ongoing war with Iran.

“We will get to the other side of the Iran conflict. And I think the oil markets are going to be better supplied than they were before, and prices will be down. We've seen core inflation, which is inflation without energy, down for three out of the past four months,“ Bessent said.

When asked about the rising cost of food, Bessent pushed back.

"Food costs have dropped substantially... or the rate of change in food cost has dropped substantially, and like I said, we're gonna get to the other side of this," he said. "Oil prices are down 7% today because someone believes that we are nearing a deal on Iran and the energy markets are better supplied than they had been before. So, you know, I think we are going to see energy prices even lower than they were before."

Note the secretary said the "rate of change" in food costs has dropped. That is true. The rate at which costs are rising has decreased, but the absolute cost of food is still going up — just at a slower pace.

It's an interesting note about the economy and the American public. Voters are split over which political party is better at handling it—with a handful of recent polls slightly favoring Democrats over Republicans.