New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange rose sharply at the opening on Friday, galvanized by the announcement of a surprise drop in the unemployment rate in May in the United States and solid job creation.

Around 1:40 p.m. GMT, its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, soared by 2.66% to 26,982.10 points.

The Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloring, rose by 1.32% to 9,742.37 points.

The S&P 500, which represents the 500 largest companies on Wall Street, gained 2.05% to 3,176.07 points.

Wall Street had finished without clear direction Thursday the day after a sharp rise and after several mixed American indicators: the Dow Jones had gleaned 0.05% while the Nasdaq had lost 0.69%.

But on Friday, investors were surprised by the employment figures.

The unemployment rate in the United States fell in May to 13.3% despite the Covid-19 pandemic and all the restrictive measures taken to try to stop its spread.

Analysts were expecting a rising unemployment rate, close to 20%, especially since about 43 million Americans have registered unemployment in two and a half months.

But the first reopening of shops and restaurants in some states in May have visibly allowed the world's largest economy to recover.

Some 2.5 million jobs were created while observers anticipated the destruction of 7.5 million jobs.

Enough to comfort investors, who have cheerfully raised the indices of the New York Stock Exchange for several weeks in the idea that the economy will rebound as the American federated states lift the restrictive measures.

"The surprise creation of 2.5 million jobs indicates that rehiring has started faster and more solidly than suggested by jobless claims," ​​said Michael Pearce, economist for Capital Economics.

"As more and more states prepare to loosen restrictions in the coming weeks, particularly in the northeastern part of the heavily populated United States, employment is expected to continue to rebound in June and beyond. beyond, "he said.

"This faster than expected recovery in employment gives hope that the virus will not leave the same lasting scars on the labor market as the usual recessions," concluded the expert.

The bond market also reacted strongly to the employment report: the 10-year rate on the American debt jumped to 0.8985% against 0.8234% Thursday evening.

© 2020 AFP