U.S. Unemployment Drops to 8.4 Percent Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, As Nearly 1.4 Million Jobs Added in August

Nearly 1.4 million jobs were added to the U.S. economy in August amid the coronavirus pandemic as unemployment dropped to 8.4 percent.

The 1.37 million jobs added are slightly higher than the 1.32 million predicted, while the 8.4 percent unemployment number fell a significant amount from the April figure of 14.7 percent.

On Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, Friday, Moody’s Capital Markets Research Chief Economist John Lonski said, “I think it’s a good number. Good number for the U.S. economy. It shows that the economic recovery is here, we are on the mend, and this will provide support to consumer spending, household expenditures going forward.”

Wall Street Journal senior writer Jon Hilsenrath also praised the numbers, though noted that there’s still a long way to go, commenting, “To sum it up, it’s progress, and that’s good news.”

“We’re about halfway back from all the jobs that we lost, the unemployment rate continuing to come down is good news. It’s still got a long way to go, with 3-and-a-half percent in February, but we wanted to see progress and that’s what we’re getting,” he declared. “So this is good news, good news for the economy.”

At CNBC, senior economics reporter Steve Liesman expressed shock at the unemployment number, calling the drop “a big decline.”

Watch above via Fox News.