‘Much Worse Than Expected’: CNBC Anchor Points Out Key Jobs Data Hinting At Possible Recession

CNBC anchor Kelly Evans reacted to a jobs report released Friday by saying the unexpectedly high unemployment rate increase may suggest the potential for an upcoming recession.

The country added 339,000 jobs compared to the 190,000 economists had anticipated, but the unemployment rate rose 0.3% to 3.7%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data published on Friday. Evans remarked that such a large increase in the unemployment rate month-to-month often suggests an economic downturn.

“The increase in the unemployment rate is MUCH worse than expected…usually when we rise by a half a point from the lowest unemployment rate, it means the economy is going into recession,” Evans said on Friday, adding, “We just rose three-tenths in a month.”

Over 90% of CEOs said they are getting ready for a recession in the U.S. during the next 12–18 months, according to a survey by The Conference Board released in May.

“Remember all the celebration about the record-low Black unemployment rate?” New York Times economics reporter Ben Casselman tweeted on Friday. “Well, Black unemployment jumped by 0.9 points in May. These figures are very noisy, but again worth watching, because historically Black Americans have been the first to lose jobs in a recession.”

Moreover, the American economy slowed to a 1.3% annual growth rate in the first quarter of 2023, according to revised GDP statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in May.

“I think, you know, the, the case of, of avoiding a recession is, in my view, more likely than that of having, having a recession,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated at a press conference in May.

The Fed has attempted to cool the labor market in an attempt to decrease continuing inflation. The unemployment rate has remained in the range of 3.4-3.7% since March 2022, according to the BLS.