June 5 (UPI) — Private employers created fewer jobs in May than Wall Street had predicted and fewer than the revised figure for April, private payroll processor ADP reported Wednesday.
ADP’s monthly National Employment report showed that private sector employment increased by 152,000 jobs in May, while April’s hiring figures were downsized from 188,000 from 192,000.
Dow Jones analysts had estimated that 175,000 non-farm jobs were created in May.
“Job gains and pay growth are slowing going into the second half of the year,” Nela Richardson, chief economist with ADP, said in a statement. “The labor market is solid, but we’re monitoring notable pockets of weakness tied to both producers and consumers.”
The service-providing sector provided the bulk of the job creation in May with 149,000 jobs. Within that sector, trade/transportation/utilities created 55,000 jobs, followed by education/health services with 46,000 and financial activities with 28,000.
Construction created 32,000 jobs in the goods-producing sector. However, the report cited a contraction in manufacturing with a loss of 20,000 and natural resources and mining with a loss of 9,000, to nearly wipe out the construction gains.
May appeared to be a challenge for small employers, losing 36,000 jobs for businesses that employ 20 to 49 people. Large companies, those with more than 500 employees, created 98,000 jobs last month.
“Pay gains for job-changers slowed in May,” the ADP report said. “Year-over-year pay gains for the second month. Pay for job-changers was up 7.8% while pay growth for job-stayers held steady for the third month at 5%.”
