Private payrolls grew by 122,000 in May, stronger than expected, ADP reports

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Wed Jun 3, 2026, 08:55 AM - Edit history (2)

Source: CNBC

Economy
Private payrolls grew by 122,000 in May, stronger than expected, ADP reports

Published Wed, Jun 3 2026 8:15 AM EDT Updated 3 Min Ago
Jeff Cox
@jeff.cox.7528
@JeffCoxCNBCcom

Key Points
* ADP reported said companies added 122,000 workers in May, up from 105,000 in April and better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 110,000.
* Unlike prior months, where job growth was concentrated in healthcare and a few other sectors, gains were more broad-based.
* Education and health services again led with 57,000 hires, but trade, transportation and utilities added 36,000, professional and business services contributed 11,000 and construction and leisure and hospitality both rose by 8,000.

Private hiring expanded at a brisk pace in May, providing further indication of a stable labor market, ADP reported Wednesday. ... The payrolls processing firm said companies added 122,000 workers for the month, up from 105,000 in April and better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 110,000. May marked the strongest month since January 2025. April's total was revised down by 4,000.

Unlike prior months, where job growth was concentrated in healthcare and a few other sectors, gains were more broad-based. Eight of the 10 sectors ADP tracks saw gains, and hiring was spread evenly both by company size and geography.

Education and health services again led with 57,000 hires, but trade, transportation and utilities added 36,000, professional and business services contributed 11,000 and construction and leisure and hospitality both rose by 8,000.

Information services lost 9,000, a possible impact from artificial intelligence growth, while natural resources and mining also reported a loss, down 3,000.

"Hiring was more broad-based in May than we've seen in the last few years," ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said. "The labor market continues to show sustained momentum going into the summer hiring season."

{snip}

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/03/adp-jobs-report-may-2026-payrolls-increase-by-122000.html

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This popped up just after I got to the main CNBC website.
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An explanation:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/adpreport.asp

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ADP National Employment Report Explained: Insights on U.S. Private Employment

By Daniel Liberto Updated April 24, 2026
Reviewed by Michael J Boyle

{snip}
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[Scrivener7]

1. That will be adjusted down 100k in 6 months

[NoMoreRepugs]

2. JoeB, who apparently did NOTHING while in office AVERAGED 275,000 per month. Just sayin....

So with higher prices for food, gas, housing, in short EVERYTHING the trump economy is growing with consumer confidence at a decades low??? Color me skeptical…..

[displacedvermoter]

4. But as was explained to me by a resident jobs analyst

they changed the numbers used in calculating what constitutes a good job report per month. According to Dallas Federal Reserve info, they changed that in 2025, based on numbers of immigrant workers kicked out of country. Funny how that works, certainly it was 250,000 a month for every Democratic President I remember, and media always reminded us.

So yeah, Biden numbers were much better, but that doesn't count now, I guess...

[CBHagman]

9. At this point, I always go back and look at the figures for the same month in 2024.

It's very instructive, because the numbers are so different, and the framing might be as well.

New York Times headline and bankhead for June 7, 2025: U.S. Hiring Rises Strongly, Along With Wages
Hiring was unexpectedly robust in May, with a gain of 272,000 jobs, but it wasn’t all good news: The unemployment rate ticked up, to 4 percent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/business/economy/jobs-report-may-2024.html

The U.S. economy keeps throwing curveballs, and the May employment report is the latest example.

Employers added 272,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported on Friday, well above what economists had expected as hiring had gradually slowed. That’s an increase from the 232,000-job average over the previous 12 months, scrambling the picture of an economy that’s relaxing into a more sustainable pace.

[Bluestocking]

3. These numbers only apply to employers that use ADP

The company I work for has 4,000 employees and does not use ADP to process payroll.

[twodogsbarking]

5. I switched a number of employers away from ADP. They were all thankful.

[Wiz Imp]

8. That is not exactly accurate.

ADP uses the reports from their clients as the sample to estimate the complete universe count of private sector employment. ADP benchmarks their data to the QCEW universe counts every year, just like BLS does with the Current Employment Statistics monthly job counts.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. The Summer surge is starting. I remember my first summer job...

Grading and packing tomatoes. The farm is closed now.

The kids don't know how good they have it in their new "modern world" summer jobs. Lord help us all.

[Happy Hoosier]

7. The AI Jobpocalypse is sputtering.

More and more businesses are discovering that LLMs cannot really replace people... at least not yet. It is a decent productivity multiplier, but not a replacement.

That's good for people... bad for investors who pump massive CAP-EX into data centers.