May unemployment rate is 13.3%, significantly lower than predicted

The Labor Department said Friday the May unemployment rate was 13.3 percent. The projected number was 19.5%.

The report also documents 2.5 million Americans returned to work last month, amid the coronavirus pandemic that since mid-March has shuttered large parts of the U.S. and global economy.

Though still a high jobless rate, the May report is a significant improvement from the jobs report for April, in which 20.5 million jobs were lost and the unemployment rate was nearly 15%. 

These number suggest that the worst of the pandemic-induced economic turmoil could be over.

Figures released earlier this week by the ADP and the Labor Department show consistent drops in the number of Americans filing for unemployment and being cut from private payrolls. Both sets of numbers also fell below predictions and estimates.

Economists are currently predicting that the June jobs report will turn positive. Though many millions of Americans remain out of work, the May jobs report is, by far, the biggest one-month jobs gain for the U.S. since 1939.

Despite civil unrest across the country this week, the U.S. market has added steady gains and Dow futures leapt 600 points as this report was released.

The president has announced he will be holding a 10:00 a.m. this morning to discuss the jobs report.