May sees biggest jobs increase ever of 2.5 million as economy starts to recover from coronavirus
- Nonfarm payrolls rose by 2.5 million in May and the unemployment rate fell to 13.3%.
- Wall Street estimates had been for a decline of 8.3 million and a jobless level of 19.5%, which would have been the worst since the Great Depression era.
- Much of the gain came from those classified as temporary layoffs due to the coronavirus-related economic shutdown.
- Leisure and hospitality represented almost half the jobs gained.