Kicking off the month with some good news as the May 2020 Jobs Report is released by the U.S. Department of Labor. In what some economists are calling a stunning report, the economy was able to gain back a small portion of the job losses that have been affecting Americans around the country. With a job market increase of 2.5 million, the economy is presumed to be on the rise. These were not the statistics economists were expecting.

According to a CNN report, “The Labor Department noted that during the pandemic, millions of workers were misclassified as ’employed but not at work,’ when they should have been counted as ‘unemployed on temporary layoff.’ If it weren’t for those misclassifications, the unemployment rate would have been higher — around 19.2% in April and 16.1% in May, not including seasonal adjustments.” Even so, we’ll take the gains where we can get them. This still doesn’t mean we’re out of the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic’s fallout, with healthcare officials warning of a second wave later in the year, but it’s nice to hear some positives about the economy during these trying times.

For more information on the current state of employment, check out our infographic below: