U.S. Private Sector Sheds 2.76 Million Jobs in May: ADP

(C) Reuters.

By Noreen Burke

Investing.com – The U.S. private sector shed another 2.76 million jobs in May, according to a report by payrolls processor ADP, indicating that it could take the economy a while to rebound as businesses reopen.

Analysts polled by Investing.com had expected the private sector to have shed 9 million jobs last month.

April’s figure was revised to show job losses of 19.55 million from the decline of 20.23 million that was initially reported.

“The impact of the COVID-19 crisis continues to weigh on businesses of all sizes,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, cohead of the ADP Research Institute. “While the labor market is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, job loss likely peaked in April, as many states have begun a phased reopening of businesses.”

The ADP numbers come ahead of the Labor Department’s nonfarm payrolls report for May on Friday, which includes both public and private-sector employment.

That report is expected to show that the unemployment rate rose to around 20% last month with employers forecast to have cut 8.25 million jobs, compared with the record 20.5 million jobs lost in April.

Ahead of that, Thursday’s jobless claims report is expected to show another surge of new claims for unemployment benefits.

Claims have declined steadily since hitting a record 6.86 million in late March, but have not registered below 2 million since mid-March.

A record 40.76 million people have filed claims since March 21. The economy created 22 million jobs during the employment boom which started in September 2010 and abruptly ended in February this year.

–Reuters contributed to this report