May jobs report: US economy unexpectedly adds 2.5 million payrolls, unemployment rate falls to 13.3%

The May jobs report showed an unexpected rise in the number of non-farm payrolls in the economy and a drop in the unemployment rate from April, averting what economists expected would be a rise in the jobless rate to the highest level since the Great Depression amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Labor Department released the May jobs report Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main results from the report, compared to Bloomberg consensus data:

Change in non-farm payrolls: +2.509 million vs. -7.5 million expected and -20.687 million in April

Unemployment rate: 13.3% vs. 19.0% expected and 14.7% in April

Average hourly earnings month on month: -1.0% vs. +1.0% expected and +4.7% in April

Average hourly earnings year on year: +6.7% vs. +8.5% expected and +8.0% in April

The Labor Department’s surveys captured the period including the 12th of the month, meaning the May report included the very early stages of reopening in some parts of the U.S. amid the coronavirus outbreak. But the rise in non-farm payrolls still exceeded all economist expectations, with no economists included in Bloomberg’s survey having predicted a rise in jobs during the month of May.

“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 2.5 million in May, reflecting a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it,” the BLS said in its statement Friday.