This archive report was first published on 5 June 2020.
On June 5, 2020, President Donald Trump seized on the government's report of surprising job gains to predict an economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unemployment rate dropped to 13.3%, a better-than-expected number, but still on par with what the nation witnessed during the Great Depression.
Trump linked the economic rebound to racial inequality, saying it 'is the greatest thing that can happen for race relations.'
He spoke from the Rose Garden hours after the Labor Department said that U.S. employers added 2.5 million workers to their payrolls last month, a stark contrast to the 8 million jobs economists had expected to be lost.
Trump predicted a swift bounce-back for an economy that was largely shuttered to slow the spread of the virus, saying the economy would see a 'very good' July and August and a 'spectacular' fall.
He also defended his handling of the pandemic, saying that had he not acted to recommend closings more than 1 million Americans would have died.
