Behind the 4.8m jobs that returned: key takeaways from June’s US jobs report

The White House has boasted the report is a sign of economic recovery, but millions of Americans are still out of work

Donald Trump was quick to celebrate the US Department of Labor's monthly job report on Thursday after it revealed a record 4.8m jobs came back in June as states reopened following coronavirus lockdowns.

But while the White House has already boasted the report is a sign of successful economic recovery, the reality is that millions of Americans are still indefinitely out of work. And to make things worse, the report gets its data from a survey that was administered in the earlier half of June, before states such as California, Arizona and Texas reversed the reopening of businesses like gyms and bars in the wake of huge surges of new Covid-19 infections.

State gov't employment a conspicuous outlier, down 25K jobs in June w/ no trend reversal thus far. Very important re deliberations over state fiscal relief. pic.twitter.com/NDXTev6fOj

Unemployment is hitting women hard than men in this recession, and for Black and Hispanic women, unemployment rates are extremely high. The unemployment rate is 14.6% for Black women and 16.1% for Hispanic women. 14/