YOUR MONEY with Mark: A better than expected unemployment rate

There was a gain in jobs across the country in May.

"The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 13.3% in May from 14.7%, and 2.5 million jobs were added — a surprisingly positive reading in the midst of a recession that has paralyzed the economy in the wake of the viral pandemic," according to the Associated Press Friday, May 5.

Why'd this happen? Investment Advisor Mark Grywacheski got into the details Monday, June 8. He says more and more states have started to reopen their economies, and people have started returning to work. Is the worst of the impact to the labor market behind us? Grywacheski says he doesn't know yet.

"A lot of heavily populated states like Illinois, California, New York, New Jersey, and a number of others are still far behind in reopening their economies," he said. "The longer these states remain closed, the more permanent damage it'll cause to their economy and their labor market." 

Grywacheski says we could still see further fallout in the labor market because of the coronavirus. He wants to see more employment reports before he determines whether the worst of the virus is behind us or not.

 Your Money with Mark airs every Monday on Good Morning Quad Cities, except for two special Wednesday sessions on May 27th and June 3rd.