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The Washington Post was blasted on social media after it jumped the gun with an inaccurate tweet Friday claiming the May U.S. unemployment rate was close to 20 percent, moments after the actual report indicated the rate unexpectedly had dropped to 13.3 percent.
“Grim milestone to be reached as May unemployment rate nears 20 percent,” the Post wrote in a now-deleted tweet to accompany a now-edited story with the same inaccurate headline.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DROPS TO 13.3% IN MAY, SIGNALING RETURN OF US JOBS
May’s 13.3 is significantly down from a record high in April, indicating the nation’s economy is recovering faster than expected from the coronavirus lockdown – but it appears that Jeff Bezos’ Post had assumed the worst.
The Labor Department said in its report that employers added 2.5 million jobs in May — the biggest increase on record. The post’s second try to promote the story featured a tweet that said “U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly declined to 13.3 percent in May amid pandemic” but the visible preview of the story still said ““Grim milestone to be reached as May unemployment rate nears 20 percent.”
The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The gaffe was quickly mocked on Twitter:
Fox Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report.
