Published Friday, May 8, 2020, 6 p.m. EST
The unemployment rate surged to 14.7% in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said Friday, but the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index nonetheless soared 1.6% and 3.4% for the week.
Despite the disastrous BLS monthly report showing a loss of 21.5 million jobs since the coronavirus crisis began, the stock market is looking past the pandemic.
The Coronavirus bear market low of the Standard & Poor's 500 index, to date, was 2237.39 on March 23, 2020. Closing Friday at 2,929.80, the index is 26.8% off the low and 14.5% from the all-time closing high on February 19, 2020 of 3386.15.
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