CNBC Anchor Stunned By Blockbuster Jobs Report Seconds After Predicting It Would Be ‘On The Weak Side’

CNBC anchor Rick Santelli was stunned when, seconds after he predicted a “weak” jobs report, he got the news that the economy created 339,000 jobs in May.

Friday morning saw the release of a new jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that exceeded expectations by a lot, especially given the Fed’s continued efforts to cool the economy. Including revisions, the total gain reported was well in excess of 400k:

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 339,000 in May, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, government, health care, construction, transportation and warehousing, and social assistance.

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The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for March was revised up by 52,000, from +165,000 to +217,000, and the change for April was revised up by 41,000, from +253,000 to +294,000. With these revisions, employment in March and April combined is 93,000 higher than previously reported.

On Friday’s edition of CNBC’s Squawk Box, Santelli gave a pessimistic assessment of a jobs report “on the weaker side,” only to get the opposite news seconds later:

Well, I personally think we’re going to be coming in on the weaker side, especially on the earnings. I think this report is going to be about earnings. We popped up to half of 1% on month over month. I think that’s an anomaly year over year. We’ve revised out some lower reads of 4.2. I think that’s the threshold to pay attention to.

And the numbers are out for the May jobs report. And boy, it certainly wasn’t on the weak side! 339,000! 339,000 nonfarm payrolls. That’s the best since January when we were at 472,000.

Private payrolls, 283,000. The unemployment rate, 3.7%. 3.7%. There is a surprise! Last time we saw it, 3.7% was October of last year. To find a higher number, you have to go back to February of last year. That’s quite a ways back.

Watch above via CNBC.