By Noreen Burke
Investing.com -- The U.S. private sector added a smaller-than-forecast 128,000 jobs in May, the smallest monthly gain of the pandemic-era recovery, according to a report by payrolls processor ADP on Thursday.
Economists had expected the private sector to have added 300,000 jobs last month.
April’s figure was revised down to show job gains of 202,000 from the gain of 247,000 that was initially reported.
“Under a backdrop of a tight labor market and elevated inflation, monthly job gains are closer to pre-pandemic levels,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said.
“The job growth rate of hiring has tempered across all industries, while small businesses remain a source of concern as they struggle to keep up with larger firms that have been booming as of late.”
The ADP numbers come ahead of the Labor Department's weekly report on initial jobless claims later Thursday and its nonfarm payrolls report for May on Friday.
Friday’s data is expected to show that the economy added 325,000 jobs last month, slowing from 428,000 in April. While still firm it would represent the smallest jobs growth in around a year.
Wage growth is expected to remain solid amid a shortage of workers and the unemployment rate is expected to tick down to 3.5%.