The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this morning that nonfarm employment rose by 4.8 million in June, lowering the unemployment to 11.1%, but more than 1.4 million Americans filed first time unemployment claims last week as states address a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
The 4.8 million figure exceeded analysts’ expectations, likely due to the fact that the survey on which the figure is based was conducted over the first two weeks of June and therefore doesn’t reflect the subsequent closings states like Texas, Florida and California instituted later in the month to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The BLS report again noted that there was an irregularity in data collection with may result in the unemployment rate being one percentage point higher than the 11.1% reported. A similar note in June’s report put the miscalculation at a 3 percentage point increase.
Unemployment claims reported by the Department of Labor fell by 100,000 from the previous week, continuing a streak of more than one million weekly claims for 15 straight weeks. In total, 48 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the last three months.
Even with the surprisingly positive BLS report, net job creation under the Trump Administration stands at -8.2 million.