US firms hire record 4.8million workers

DONALD Trump claimed the US economy is ‘roaring back’ as official figures showed firms hired a record 4.8m workers last month.

The unemployment rate dropped to 11.1pc in June from 13.3pc in May as the world’s biggest economy bounced back more sharply than expected.

The increase of 4.8m workers on payrolls is the biggest monthly rise since records began in 1939, and comes after a 2.5m bump in jobs in May. The rise was also far bigger than the 3m increase predicted by many economists.

The jobs recovery was broad based, with figures from the US Labor Department showing leisure and hospitality firms took on 2.1m workers, manufacturers added 356,000 jobs and retailers recruited 740,000 staff.

The figures triggered a rebound on global stockmarkets and were pounced upon by Trump who tweeted immediately: ‘Great jobs numbers!’

In a White House press conference, the president described the numbers as ‘spectacular news for American workers and American families and for our country as a whole’. He said: ‘Today’s announcement proves that our economy is roaring back – it’s coming back extremely strong.’

But experts quickly pointed out that the figures were collected in the second week of the month and therefore predate a second wave of infections which has hit several large US states including California, Florida and Texas.

Melissa Davies, chief economist at Redburn, said there is ‘plenty of good news in the US non-farm payrolls report’, but added: ‘There will not only be a virus second wave, but a second wave of job losses as companies enter bankruptcy and new economic realities set in.’