Updated Published Friday, June 4, 2021 at: 6:47 PM EDT

Today’s jobs situation report confirmed the recovery is on track and stocks closed a fraction from their all-time high.  

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 559,000 in May, and the unemployment rate declined three-tenths of 1% to 5.8%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 

In May, the number of unemployed persons fell by 496,000 to 9.3 million. The unemployment rate and the number of unemployed are considerably lower than the high of April 2020, but remain well above the best job situation ever -- the February 2020 pre-pandemic unemployment rate of 3.5%, when 5.7 million were unemployed. 

The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index closed today at 4,229.89, which is only two-tenths of 1% from its all-time high. The index gained +0.88% from Thursday, +0.61% from last week and +61.61% since the March 23, 2021 bear market low. 

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