The unemployment rate dropped from 14.7% to 13.3% in May surprising many economists.
Many economists had predicted a jump to 19% unemployment rate for the month according to a survey conducted by MarketWatch.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released their monthly report on June 5. It showed total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 2.5 million, rising sharply in leisure and hospitality, construction, education and health services, and retail trade. By contrast, it noted, employment in government continued to decline sharply.
Construction employment increased by 464,000 in May, gaining back almost half of April’s decline (-995,000). Much of the gain occurred in specialty trade contractors (+325,000), with growth about equally split between the residential and nonresidential components. Job gains also occurred in construction of buildings (+105,000), largely in residential building.
U.S. stock indexes reacted to the positive jobs report,, sharply posting gains in the morning after the report was released.
For additional details on market place gains and losses here’s a link to the official BLS jobs report for May: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm