The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in May and layoffs abated, the Labor Department said on Friday in a report that showed the latest …
The U. S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in May and layoffs abated, the Labor Department said on Friday in a report that showed the latest signs the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was bottoming.
President Donald Trump, in a series of tweets Friday, hailed what in one message he called a “Really Big Jobs Report,” adding, “Great going President Trump (kidding but true)!”
“It’s a stupendous number. It’s joyous, let’s call it like it is. The Market was right. It’s stunning!” Trump wrote in another.
The Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report (pdf) showed the jobless rate dropped to 13.3 percent last month from 14.7 percent in April. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 2.509 million jobs after a record plunge of 20.687 million in April.
“These improvements in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it,” William W. Beach, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a statement (pdf).
