2.5 Million Jobs Added In May, Unemployment Drops Down To 13.3 Percent

Unemployment applications are seen as City of Hialeah employees hand them out to people in front of the John F. Kennedy Library on April 08, 2020 in Hialeah, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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2.5 million jobs were gained in May while unemployment dropped down to 13.3 percent, the Labor Department stated in its monthly report on Friday morning, a sign that the economic damage brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic may be slowly diminishing.

The May job gain suggests that businesses have quickly been recalling workers as states have reopened their economies.

Other evidence has also shown that the job market meltdown triggered by the coronavirus has bottomed out. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits has declined for nine straight weeks. And the total number of people receiving such aid has essentially leveled off.

The overall job cuts have widened economic disparities that have disproportionately hurt minorities and lower-educated workers. Though the unemployment rate for white Americans was 12.4% in May, it was 17.6% for Hispanics and 16.8% for African-Americans.

Even with the surprising gain in May, it may take months for all those who lost work in April and March to find jobs. Some economists forecast the rate could remain in double-digits through the November elections and into next year.

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  1. These figures come from the government, huh?

  2. Avatar for vonq vonq says:

    Fact checked?

  3. What kind of jobs? Warehouse workers and delivery drivers? This is meaningless without context - and a fact check.

    Edit: I should have checked earlier replies for the fact that vonq suggested the same inquiry.

  4. Are those numbers for real, or has the clown taken over BLS, too?

  5. These are most likely minimum wage service industry jobs. Grocery store, retails stores, warehouse workers, restaurants with take out etc have had hiring sign out for months. I know in the stores I go to there are lots of new faces. So for those who complained they were out of work, if they wanted to work there were jobs they could apply for. However these are not living wage jobs. As to unemployment claims dropping, there are many who don’t qualify so of course the rate will drop.

    The devil is in the details which need to b scrutinized.

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