Breaking: US private sector employment rises by 978K in May vs. 650K expected

Employment in the US’ private sector increased by 978,000 in May, the monthly data published by the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Research Institute revealed on Thursday. This reading followed April’s print of 654,000 (revised from 742,000) and came in better than the market expectation of 650,000.

Commenting on the data, “private payrolls showed a marked improvement from recent months and the strongest gain since the early days of the recovery,” noted Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “While goods producers grew at a steady pace, it is service providers that accounted for the lion’s share of the gains, far outpacing the monthly average in the last six months. Companies of all sizes experienced an uptick in job growth, reflecting the improving nature of the pandemic and economy.”