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The ADP National Employment Report indicates that U.S. private payrolls increased by 122,000 in May 2026, surpassing the 117,000 jobs forecast by economists polled by Reuters. This growth followed a downwardly revised gain of 105,000 jobs in April. ADP data shows hiring occurred across all business sizes and eight out of ten supersectors, with the education and health services sector leading the gains. Additionally, year-over-year pay for job-stayers rose by 4.4 percent, while pay growth for job-changers slightly declined to 6.5 percent.
Despite the reported increase, economists offer varying interpretations of the data. While ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson, described the hiring as broad-based and indicative of sustained momentum, other analysts remain cautious. Experts such as Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconomics noted that other indicators, including regional Federal Reserve surveys and hiring intention indexes, suggest the labor market is stabilizing rather than strengthening, and cautioned that ADP has historically been an inconsistent predictor of Bureau of Labor Statistics employment reports.
Private sector employment rose by 122,000 jobs in May 2026, exceeding economist expectations.
Year-over-year pay growth for job-stayers remained steady at 4.4 percent.
Hiring gains were broad-based, with service-providing industries adding 114,000 jobs and goods-producing industries adding 8,000.
Economists warn that the ADP report may not signal a strengthening labor market, citing weaker data from other forecasting indicators.
The ADP report is based on anonymized payroll data from over 26 million private-sector employees.
Private payrolls increased by 122,000 in May, compared to a downwardly revised gain of 105,000 jobs in April.
Education and health services led the gains with 57,000 new jobs, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities with 36,000.
No, economists note that the ADP report has been a poor predictor of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' official employment estimates.
Pay for job-stayers rose 4.4 percent year-over-year, while pay growth for job-changers slowed slightly to 6.5 percent.
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