Unemployment Plummets in Historic One-Month Job Gain, Biggest Since 1939
'It is a stunner by any stretch of the imagination!' Trump said of the news
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Economists on Wall Street are in a state of shock after the U.S. unemployment rates plummeted to 13.3% for the month of May.
Dow Jones experts predicted unemployment rates would go the other way and rise to 19.5% with 8 million jobs lost.
But their prediction fell way off the mark.
In May, the economy created more than 2.5 million jobs, according to the Labor Department.
The gains were the biggest one-month jobs gain in U.S. history since 1939.
President Donaald Trump responded to the news on Twitter:
“It is a stunner by any stretch of the imagination!”
"It’s a stupendous number. It’s joyous, let’s call it like it is. The Market was right. It’s stunning!”
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Jobs returned to sectors like retail sales, restaurants and bars, clothing stores, dentistry, and medical practices.
But due to ongoing school closures, jobs were lost in government and education.
Trump last month said schools throughout the United States need to be reopened "ASAP."
"Schools in our country should be opened ASAP. Much very good information now available. @SteveHiltonx @FoxNews," Trump wrote.
Futures on the Dow soared more than 650 points.
In April, the unemployment rate increased by more than 10%, hitting 14.7%.
But the Labor Department said another 1.8 million Americans made first-time claims for unemployment benefits, pushing those who had lost their job due to the coronavirus to 42 million.
Rush Claims Dems want to “Wreck the Economy” to hurt Trump’s Reelection Chances
— Neon Nettle (@NeonNettle) May 14, 2020
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Dow Jones analysts had estimated a job loss of 1.775 million.
But as states begin to reopen, the numbers are expected to continue to recede.
The 1.8 million claims last week is still the lowest since the COVID-19 epidemic started.
The number has also been dropping for eight weeks in a row since the week ending March 25.
President Trump predicted in April that the US economy will have a "big bounce" back after suffering from the coronavirus crisis.
The President expressed confidence the economy would come back from the drubbing it had taken from the lockdown.
During the daily White House news briefing by the coronavirus task force, Trump said:
“The economy is just going to do very well."
