The May unemployment rate is expected to be near 20% as millions more lost jobs

The unemployment rate is expected to have hit nearly 20%, with 20.5 million jobs lost in April and millions more expected in May data, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday.

Economists expect to see another 8.33 million job losses in May, but they say the June report should turn positive

Millions more Americans lost their jobs in May, on top of the 20.5 million in April, and economists believe the unemployment rate rose to near 20%, the likely peak in the Covid-19 recession.

Economists are forecasting about 8.3 million jobs were lost, and that the unemployment rate rose to 19.5%, according to Dow Jones. That compares to an unemployment rate of 14.7% in April. The employment report, expected Friday morning, follows Thursday’s report that nearly 1.9 million people filed for unemployment claims last week.

“This May number is going to be bad,” he said. “We’re looking at an unemployment rate approaching Great Depression levels. We’re expecting 10 million jobs were lost...We think the unemployment rate will hit 20.5%. When you look at the claims reports, it’s pretty horrific. We’re still looking at elevated unemployment claims.”

CNBC- Patti Domm