Optimism on Post-COVID-19 US Economic Recovery

When the shutdown began due to COVID-19, stores and businesses worldwide were forced to close operations and thousands of people joined the unemployment lines, no one for a second imagined a recovery would be anything but traumatic. But there has been some good news for the US economy; it seems that recovery is happening and that it is actually ahead of the estimated schedule.  In May of 2020 America gained 2.5 million jobs and unemployment actually dropped to 13.3 percent, rendering it the highest gain in job creation since numbers were recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1939.

Of course these numbers do have to be taken in context.  April saw huge losses so comparatively that number might not be as positive as it initially appears.  Indeed, nearly 21 million jobs were lost in April of 2020.

And there is also the issue of the “misclassification” rendering the numbers inaccurate too.  Many were rendered as employed but not at work but the reality was not that they were working from home for example but they were temporarily laid off with no guarantee of a return to work and if so, in what capacity.  That would have put the unemployment figure in May actually at 16.1%.

Nonetheless, given that unemployment figures for May were estimated at approximately 20 percent, today’s numbers look good.  As President Trump stated during a a press conference:

“We’re going to be back and we’re opening our country. And if you look at the lockdown governors … the ones that are most energetic about opening, they are doing tremendous business and that’s what these numbers are all about.”

With a trillion-dollar rescue package and much larger unemployment aid, the recession has been guided through government aid as well.