Unemployment drops as jobs post gain.
The Labor Department released its labor figures for May, and they surprised everyone, except for perhaps a highly optimistic President Trump.
The economy gained 2.5 million jobs, the highest payroll gain on record, lowering the unemployment rate to 13.3 percent.
The figures represent a stunning development and not-so-subtle 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 around 20 percent.
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden Friday morning, attended by his economic team, President Trump called the jobs report “an affirmation of all the work we’ve been doing” over the course of his administration and said earlier predictions were “the greatest miscalculation in the history of business shows.”
He compared the economy to a “body” that was “strong” but needed an operation. Rather than a V-structured recovery, he said it is now a “rocketship.”
Numbers are still far from where they were before the government shutdown business in an effort to stem the tide of the coronavirus, but in many states, many businesses are just beginning to reopen, and often with strident restrictions on occupancy loads, such as in restaurants.
In a moment of ebullient levity, the president considered that he might have to buy an RV and drive back to New York with the First Lady.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- With thanksgiving for the economic response shown in the labor statistics for May, and with prayers that the recovery can be steady and sustained.
- For President Trump and his economic team as they consider other stimulus programs for a variety of industries.
Sources: Fox News, CNN
