The shocker May jobs report: largest monthly job gain ever recorded

Just when it seemed like 2020 couldn't surprise us anymore... The May jobs report dropped. We were expecting to get hit with a 20% unemployment rate, but were pleasantly surprised (rare 2020 occurrence): unemployment actually fell in May, and 2.5M jobs were added to the US economy — the largest monthly job gain on record.

• May's 13.3% unemployment rate reveals that 1 in 7 Americans in the labor force can't find work — not exactly confetti-worthy news. But improvement from April is encouraging given the past quarantine-ful months.
• The unemployment rate was 3.5% in February — then it jumped dramatically from 4.4% in March to 14.7% in April, when 20.5M Americans lost their jobs (a post-WWII high).
• A footnote in the jobs report indicates there could have been a "misclassification error" — unemployment may have been as high as 19.2% in April and 16.1% in May. Either way, it decreased significantly.

May the (labor) force be with you... Over half of people laid off during the pandemic may be earning more than they did at their jobs, largely thanks to stimulus checks and extra $600/week in beefed up unemployment pay. Americans' personal incomes actually jumped 10.5% in April. While that might suggest a slower return to work, the latest stats are encouraging:

• Restaurants and bars added 1.4M workers last month, or 56% of the overall May job gains. Construction, healthcare and retail also added jobs.
• 80% of the people who lost jobs during the corona-crisis expect the loss to be temporary.
• But still TBD whether May's stats indicate positive future momentum, or just the bare minimum necessary to reopen the economy.