The number of Americans dismissed from their jobs fell sharply in May to match levels recorded before the coronavirus pandemic and related shutdowns caused widespread layoffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. In May, 1.8 million workers were laid off or otherwise discharged from their jobs, the Labor Department said yesterday. That was down from 7.7 million in April and 11.5 million in March. May’s dismissals were in line with the numbers reported in January and February, before the pandemic shut swaths of the U.S. economy. Yesterday’s report showed hirings and the number of open jobs also rose in May from April, signs that the labor market was healing this spring. However, the 5.4 million openings in May were dwarfed by the 21 million Americans unemployed that month. “Layoffs and discharges are settling back to levels similar to those we saw before the virus, and hiring snapped back as employers recalled workers,” said Nick Bunker, an economist with job-search website Indeed. But employer demand for workers moving forward is depressed, he said, noting job openings are down 23 percent compared with February. The numbers, which reflect the job market through the last business day of May, are consistent with other measures showing that hiring picked up and layoffs eased late this spring. The data don’t capture the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in several states and related moves by governors to halt or reverse plans to reopen their economies. The separate monthly jobs report, released last week, showed U.S. employers added about 7.5 million jobs to payrolls in May and June, after losing 22.2 million in March and April.
