Donald Trump hails 'largest job gain in history' as economy adds 4.8 million jobs in June despite pandemic
The US economy surpassed expectations in the month of June after gaining 4.8 million jobs and the unemployment rate falling to 11.1 percent.
In the past two months, the economy has added close to 7.3 million jobs. Companies ramped up hiring as the economy reopened and customers returned to stores, restaurants, and other businesses that had shuttered down in March and April due to the coronavirus lockdown. President Donald Trump touted the job numbers during a news briefing on July 2, calling it the "largest jobs gain in the history of our country."
“Today’s announcement proves that our economy is roaring back. It’s coming back extremely strong," he said.
The Labor Department revealed that job growth was strong in restaurants and bars as they added 1.5 million jobs after the reopening of establishments across the country. That said, employment is still 3.1 million lesser than that February, when Covid-19 hit the US.
Meanwhile, the retail sector added 740,000 jobs after big gains were reported in clothing stores, department stores, furniture, and auto dealerships. However, employment is still around 1.5 million lesser February’s numbers. Manufacturing employment shot up by 356,000, with increases concentrated in the durable goods component and the auto sector accounting for over half of the job gain in manufacturing after adding 196,000 jobs. Furthermore, construction employment increased by 158,000 last month.
"Employers added the jobs even as much of the country was beset by urban riots, looting of commercial districts, and marches by self-styled 'Black lives matter' activists calling for the defunding of police and the toppling of statues of political leaders from America’s past," John Carney wrote for Breitbart. Having said that, there are still tens of millions fewer Americans back at work as compared to February. There are almost 13 million fewer jobs in the US as compared to a year ago. What's more? over 1.42 million Americans were reportedly laid off last week, the fifteenth consecutive week of jobless claims.
Economists had reportedly been expecting around 3 million new jobs, with estimates ranging from 1.9 million jobs to more than 9 million due to the abrupt nature of the shutdown and reopening. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was expected to fall from 13.3 percent to 12.4 percent. Businesses increased their workforces by 2.37 million in the month of June, according to a report on private payrolls from ADP and Moody’s Analytics. The economy gained 2.5 million jobs the previous month u2014 exceeding expectations and indicating an accelerated recovery.
According to the report, the number of unemployed people who rejoined labor work in June rose by 711,000 from the previous month. At the same time, the labor force participation rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 61.5 percent. Overall, as measured by the household survey, total employment increased by 4.9 million to 142.2 million in June. Even the employment-population ratio rose by 1.8 percentage points to 54.6 percent, albeit that is 6.5 percentage points lower than February numbers.
"The Trump administration’s aid programs appear to be working," Carney explained. "Direct relief payments to taxpayers and enhanced unemployment have kept incomes up despite the huge rise in unemployment, which in turn has boosted demand for consumer products."
He added that the Paycheck Protection Progam also appeared to have bolstered employment and rehiring, especially after providing forgivable loans to small businesses that avoid layoffs.