The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 13.3 percent in May, down from a record high in April as the nation’s economy began to gradually reopen from the coronavirus lockdown.

The Labor Department said in its Friday report that employers added 2.5 million jobs in May, even as the virus outbreak and subsequent stay-at-home measures mandated by states to curb the spread of COVID-19 forced nonessential businesses to close.

Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected the report to show that unemployment rose to 19.8 percent in May and that employers shed 8 million jobs.