The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday morning the May 2020 unemployment was 13.3%, far lower than the expected 20%.
More than 2 million jobs were also added, a positive reading in the midst of a recession that has paralyzed the economy in the wake of the viral pandemic.
Many economists, according to Yahoo Finance, were expecting the numbers to be the highest since the Great Depression. The May job gain suggests businesses have been recalling workers as states have reopened their economies.
As he prepares to resume in-person campaigning next week in his reelection effort, President Donald Trump immediately seized on the good economic news.
Though the unemployment rate for white Americans was 12.4% in May, it was 17.6% for Hispanics and 16.8% for African Americans.
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 consecutive weeks.
And the total number of people receiving such aid has essentially leveled off.
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New unemployment numbers released Thursday morning by the U.S. Department of Labor show more than 1.8 million Americans joined the ranks of the unemployed during the last week.
While more than 41 million workers have filed jobless claims since the coronavirus pandemic began impacting the U.S. economy, the number of weekly jobless has declined the last several weeks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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