E-Paper
‘Greatest comeback’: US job losses decline, Trump celebrates unexpected
Job losses this year in May were 13.3 per cent, down from 14.7 per cent in April, according to US labor department’s monthly job report released Friday, indicating the free-falling economy had bottomed out, and a turnaround could be under way.
President Donald Trump on celebrated the unexpected decline in job losses in the United States, terming it the “greatest comeback” in the country’s history. The economy, according to the state’s report, added 2.5 million jobs.
Job losses this year in May were 13.3 per cent, down from 14.7 per cent in April, according to US labor department’s monthly job report released Friday, indicating the free-falling economy had bottomed out, and a turnaround could be under way.
The economy added 2.5 million jobs as more and more areas of the country began reopening from Covid-19 lockdowns.
“Today is probably, if you think of it, the greatest comeback in American history,” Trump said at a news briefing, in reference to the statistics on monthly job report
“Hopefully George is looking down right now and saying there’s a great thing happening for our country,” he said. Trump was referring to George Floyd, the African American man whose death in police custody plunged Unite States into civil unrest, just as it was beginning to merge from the worst of the Covid-19 epidemic. “It’s a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody.”
The president went on to congratulate himself for his handling of the epidemic, which has killed more than 1,07,000 Americans. He also claimed that the economy has bounced back quickly on the strength of foundation he had laid for it.
While businesses have been rehiring, as the new numbers who, layoffs have continued, although they with declining intensity. Another 1,9 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, for instance, and more than 30 million still depend on this assistance.
The White House expressed pleasant surprise at the numbers as its first reactions reflected. “May’s #JobDay report shows that the US economy ADDED 2.5 MILLION jobs last month (yes, you read that right) and the unemployment rate FELL,” the president’s Council of Economic Advisors, wrote in a tweet. “The median of all private-sector forecasts predicted 7.5 million jobs LOST and RISING unemployment.”
