The unemployment rate fell to a better-than-expected 13.3% in May, the Labor Department said Friday, in the strongest signal yet that the economy has turned the corner from the coronavirus shutdowns.
“This recovery begins today,” Vice President Mike Pence declared in an interview on CNBC.
The jobless rate was more than 1 point lower than April’s rate of 14.7%, as employers added about 2.5 million jobs. There were job gains in hospitality and retail, as almost every sector increased hiring. An exception was local governments, which shed about 500,000 jobs.
President Trump quickly scheduled a news conference at the White House on the jobs report. The turnaround has implications for his reelection prospects, suggesting that the economy could be in stronger-than-expected shape through the summer and fall.
Mr. Trump tweeted Friday, “Really Big Jobs Report. Great going President Trump (kidding but true)!”
The unexpectedly positive report prompted major stock indexes to soar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 900 points, or about 3.5%, by mid-day; the S&P 500 rose 2.8% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.2%.
Many economists, including some at the White House, had forecast the unemployment rate in May to climb to nearly 20% and for job losses to reach 7 million for the month.
In March and April, employers shed 21.4 million jobs as nearly all states ordered nonessential businesses to close.
Despite the encouraging report, top congressional Democrats renewed their call for the Senate to approve a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package passed by the House three weeks ago. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal, Massachusetts Democrat, noted that expanded unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire next month and tens of millions of Americans are still out of work.
“Our country is in crisis,” Mr. Neal said. “Nearly 110,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19, and more than 42 million are out of work. Longstanding systemic injustices in our nation are front and center; they’re the reason communities of color disproportionately feel the health and economic effects of this pandemic, and they’re what have prompted thousands of people in all 50 states to take to the streets in peaceful protest. Yet as millions remain out of work and American deaths continue to multiply, Senate Republicans look the other way and refuse to take action.”
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said of the report, “The great American comeback is underway after the economy was artificially interrupted by the global pandemic.”
“Incredibly, Joe Biden is counting on more economic pain for Americans so he can capitalize on it politically,” he said of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. “It is disgusting and sad that Biden and the Democrats are openly worrying that America will get back to work because it would be bad news for them.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.