Thread by @nytimes

The pandemic-induced collapse of the U.S. jobs market came to a halt on Friday: Millions of people were brought back to work and the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined.

Here's what's going on with the unexpected turnaround. nyti.ms/2Y8umUW

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3% from 14.7% in April. That’s an improvement, but tens of millions of people remain out of work, and the unemployment rate is still higher than in any previous post-World War II recession. nyti.ms/2Y8umUW

Employers added 2.5 million jobs in May, despite economists' expectations of further losses.

Still, this is how much farther the economy has to go to recover to get back to where it was. nyti.ms/2Y8umUW

The job growth in May came in sectors hit hardest in the early stages of the pandemic: Leisure, hospitality and retail saw the strongest growth.

Still, employment in nearly every sector remains far below where it was before the crisis began. nyti.ms/2Y8umUW

And even with the improved unemployment rate, people of color are still out of work at a higher rate than white people in the U.S., as they historically have been.

The unemployment rate for black people in the U.S. saw virtually no change in May. nyti.ms/2Y8umUW

The unemployment rate shows just a slice of the economic pain caused by the coronavirus crisis.

Here’s what the unemployment rate would look like if it were expanded to include more workers who have been hurt during the pandemic. nyti.ms/3gYwlnx

“We might have climbed one rung of the ladder out of the hole, but it’s still a long ladder,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist of Pantheon Economics.

Read more about what May's jobs report says about the U.S. economy. nyti.ms/2Y8umUW