Anirban Basu, chief economist for ABC, said the numbers held some big surprises, but not all of them were good.
“Today’s employment report was expected to show an economy not yet in recession but at least headed in that direction,” he said. “Shockingly, that did not come to pass.”
The upside surprise actually drove stocks lower Friday, as the news is expected to give the Federal Reserve more motivation to continue to raise interest rates later this year.