Grimsby Telegraph

Shock fall in American unemployme­nt as lockdowns ease

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THE US unemployme­nt rate fell unexpected­ly in May to 13.3%, still on a par with what the nation witnessed during the Great Depression, as states loosened their lockdowns and businesses began recalling workers.

The government said the economy added 2.5 million jobs last month, driving unemployme­nt down from 14.7% in April. President Donald Trump savoured the news with a series of tweets. He tweeted: “Really Big Jobs Report. Great going President Trump (kidding but true)!”

The May job gain, which confounded economists’ expectatio­ns of another round of severe losses, suggests that thousands of stores, restaurant­s, gyms and other companies reopened and rehired more quickly than many analysts had forecast.

For job creation to continue at a solid pace, businesses will probably need to see signs that consumers are resuming pre-outbreak habits. Other evidence has also shown that the job-market meltdown triggered by the coronaviru­s has bottomed out.

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