President Donald Trump on Friday celebrated a stunning US employment report that showed more than 2.5 million jobs were added last month during the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, and predicted the battered economy will recover all of its lost jobs by next year.
He spoke after the Labor Department released its jobs report for May, which showed the jobless rate dropped to 13.3% from 14.7% in April, a surprise after economists predicted it would rise to close to 20%. Nonfarm payrolls rose by just over 2.5 million jobs after a record plunge of slightly under 20.7 million in April.
However, many economists warn that it could take years for the US economy to add back all of those lost jobs.
Trump has struggled to respond to the fallout from the outbreak of novel coronavirus, which led to nationwide lockdowns that put the economy into a virtual standstill and left about 40 million Americans without work.
Trump has pressed state and local authorities to lift the business restrictions designed to slow the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 1,08,000 Americans and infected more than 1.88 million since February.
Trump said the U.S. economic recovery will accelerate as states hard hit by the pandemic, including New York and New Jersey, allow business to resume. He said states like California that still have restrictions in place should follow the example of Florida and other states that have lifted them.
The Republican president, who was criticized for initially downplaying the threat of the virus to the United States, said authorities should focus on protecting the elderly, who are more likely to die from the virus, while allowing younger people to return to work and school.