ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 178,000 Jobs in May

Staff Report

Wednesday, June 6th, 2018

Private sector employment increased by 178,000 jobs from April to May according to the May ADP National Employment Report.  Broadly distributed to the public each month, free of charge, the ADP National Employment Report is produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with Moody's Analytics.  The report, which is derived from ADP's actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

May 2018 Report Highlights

Total U.S. Nonfarm Private Employment:     178,000

By Company Size

  • Small businesses:     38,000

    • 1-19 employees     15,000

    • 20-49 employees     23,000

  • Medium businesses:     84,000

    • 50-499 employees     84,000

  • Large businesses:     56,000

    • 500-999 employees     23,000

    • 1,000+ employees      34,000

By Sector

  • Goods-producing:     64,000

    • Natural resources/mining    11,000

    • Construction    39,000

    • Manufacturing     14,000

  • Service-providing:     114,000

    • Trade/transportation/utilities     -23,000

    • Information     2,000

    • Financial activities     2,000

    • Professional/business services     61,000

      • Professional/technical services     20,000

      • Management of companies/enterprises     5,000

      • Administrative/support services     35,000

    • Education/health services     35,000

      • Health care/social assistance      26,000

      • Education     9,000

    • Leisure/hospitality      33,000

    • Other services     5,000

  • Franchise Employment

    • Franchise jobs     29,500

"The hot job market has cooled slightly as the labor market continues to tighten," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. "Healthcare and professional services remain  a model of consistency and continue to serve as the main drivers of growth in the services sector and the broader labor market as well." 

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, said, "Job growth is strong, but slowing, as businesses are unable to fill a record number of open positions. Wage growth is accelerating in response, most notably for young, new entrants and those changing jobs. Finding workers is increasingly becoming businesses number one problem." 

The matched sample used to develop the ADP National Employment Report was derived from ADP payroll data, which represents 411,000 U.S. clients employing nearly 24 million workers in the U.S. The April total of jobs added was revised down from 204,000 to 163,000.