SHOCK REPORT: Unemployment Rate Dropped to 13.3%; Republicans Cheer: The Trump Recovery Is Ahead of Schedule
By Washington Examiner. The economy gained 2.5 million jobs in May, lowering the unemployment rate to 13.3%, the Labor Department said Friday.
The payroll gains, the largest on record, represented a stunning development and a hint that the worst-case scenario for the economy might not come to pass. Forecasters had expected job losses of 8 million and an unemployment rate of about 20%.
“This looks like the shortest recession in history,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist for MUFG.
Employment rose sharply in sectors such as leisure, hospitality, and retail as states began to reopen last month — the same industries that had seen extreme rates of layoffs as the pandemic struck. The leisure and hospitality sectors saw job gains of 1.2 million, following losses of 7.5 million in April and 743,000 in March. The retail sector gained 368,000 in May, after a loss of 2.3 million in April. . .
Altogether, 7.7 million unemployed workers went back to work in May, a sign that many of the employees who were temporarily dismissed during the worst of the pandemic will be able to rejoin their old employers. (Read more from “SHOCK REPORT: Unemployment Rate Dropped to 13.3%” HERE)
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Republicans Cheer: The Trump Recovery Is Ahead of Schedule
By Washington Examiner. President Trump claimed vindication Friday as a surprise positive jobs report previewed what he called the “greatest comeback in American history” for a coronavirus-crippled economy — and perhaps for his own reelection campaign.
Unemployment dropped to 13.3% in May as the economy added 2.5 million jobs, the Department of Labor reported. Forecasters had expected a loss of 8 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 20%. Trump himself might not have been expecting such success so soon. He had been predicting a “transition to greatness” as federal relief spending and reopening from the coronavirus-induced shutdowns pulled the economy out of a Depression-like stupor into a strong fourth quarter followed by “through the roof” growth next year.
“I think you’re going to have a very good August, maybe July,” Trump said in the Rose Garden Friday. “Maybe a spectacular September.”
“Having these positive job numbers is exactly just what America needed at the end of one of the most challenging weeks our country has faced in quite some time,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. “As the country is opening back up for business, so is the American economy, and hopefully, the trend will keep moving in the right direction.” (Read more from “Republicans Cheer: The Trump Recovery Is Ahead of Schedule” HERE)
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