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Jobs Skyrocket in May, Stunning Economists and Corporate Media

Employment rose by an unexpected 2.5 million in May, bringing the jobless rate to 13.3%, according to the Labor Department on Friday.

The stunning new jobs numbers  indicate that the nation is in the midst of an economic turnaround as states gradually reopen after the coronavirus lockdowns. The May gain was reportedly the biggest one-month jobs surge since at least 1939 and perhaps in all of American history. “The only previous month to register more than a million jobs was September 1983, at 1.1 million,” according to CNBC.

The stunning gains come just three months after the U.S. had boasted a 3.5% unemployment rate, the lowest in 50 years, then saw that erased in an instant. The U.S. economy had been enjoying the longest expansion in its history but had to go into almost complete lockdown due to stay-at-home orders issued across the country.

Right up until this morning, the media was hyping doom and gloom predictions showing massive job losses continuing into May.

“Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting payrolls to drop by 8.33 million and the unemployment rate to rise to 19.5% from April’s 14.7%,” CNBC reported.

If Wall Street expectations had been accurate, it would have been the worst figure since the Great Depression.

As it turned out, May’s numbers showed the U.S. may well be on the road to recovery after its fastest plunge in history.

As Redstate first reported, New York Times columnist and Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman was so flummoxed by the good economic news,  he suggested in a series of bizarre tweets that the economic “models” may be playing tricks on us or President Trump may have “gotten to the BLS”:

He went on to sourly attack Trump’s economic advisor Stephen Moore, calling him a “hack.”

Jason Furman, formerly the chairman of Obama’s Counsel of Economic Advisors, quickly shot down Krugman’s conspiracy theory.

“You can 100% discount the possibility that Trump got to the BLS. Not 98% discount, not 99.9% discount, but 100% discount,” he tweeted. “BLS has 2,400 career staff of enormous integrity and one political appointee with no scope to change this number.”

Most financial experts welcomed the cheery economic news.

“It seems the damage from the nationwide lockdown was not as severe or as lasting as we feared a month ago,” said Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman.

“The glimmer of hope in that [April] report, as awful as it was, was that 78% of the people who lost their jobs believed that loss would be temporary,” Clemons said. “It turns out that optimism seems to have been warranted. As the economy responded and people went back to work, the jobs were still there.”

“Barring a second surge of Covid-19, the overall U.S. economy may have turned a corner, as evidenced by the surprise job gains today, even though it still remains to be seen exactly what the new normal will look like,” said Tony Bedikian, head of global markets at Citizens Bank.

The stock market reacted favorably to the jobs report, gaining 800 points as of 11 a.m. ET, according to CNBC.

The great economic news is surely to disappoint Democrats who were hoping to lard up a phase 4 stimulus bill with billions of dollars for  left-wing causes and huge bailouts for cronies.

President Donald Trump giddily shared the news in a series of tweets, Friday morning.

He also took a swipe at Democrats, suggesting that they were hoping the economic devastation would continue, increasing their electoral fortunes.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) meanwhile took credit for the great jobs numbers, while at the same time warning that now is “the worst possible time to take our foot of the gas” on pushing economy-crushing coronavirus policies. She urged the Senate to pass the Democrats’ atrocious “Heroes Act,” which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already declared “dead on arrival.”

Trump held an upbeat news conference in the White House Rose Garden to tout the new job numbers.

“I think we’re going to have a very good upcoming few months. I think you’re going to have a very good August, very good July … maybe a spectacular September, but a spectacular October, November, December, and next year’s going to be one of the best years economically,” he told reporters.

“We’re bringing our jobs back, the president said. “We’re gonna be back there. I think we’re actually going to be back there higher next year than ever before.

He added, in reference to predictions that the economy could eventually bounce back to where it was before the pandemic: “We’ve been talking about a ‘V.’ This is far better than a ‘V.’ This is a rocketship.”

Trump also signed a bill giving small businesses more flexibility with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. He said the legislation would “especially help restaurants, hotels and other businesses.” The president also thanked Democrats for cooperating on getting the PPP bill through the House of Representatives.

Trump was criticized by Democrats, including Joe Biden, for mentioning George Floyd’s name and “equal justice under the law” as he touted the great economic numbers.

“Equal justice under the law must mean that every American receives equal treatment in every encounter with law enforcement, regardless of race, color, gender, or creed,” he said. Hopefully George Floyd is looking down right now & saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country…in terms of equality”

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About Debra Heine

Debra Heine is a conservative Catholic mom of six and longtime political pundit. She has written for several conservative news websites over the years, including Breitbart and PJ Media.

Photo: (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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