U.S. private employers added 122,000 workers in May, ADP reported Wednesday, beating the Dow Jones consensus forecast of 110,000 and marking the strongest month of hiring since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025. The increase also exceeded April’s gain of 105,000, continuing a gradual acceleration in private-sector payroll growth that builds on the momentum seen in prior months. ADP’s National Employment Report, based on payroll data from more than 25 million private-sector employees, serves as an early indicator before the Labor Department’s official jobs release.
The payroll processing firm’s data showed gains across most sectors, with education and health services leading at 57,000 new workers. Trade, transportation, and utilities added 36,000; professional and business services rose by 11,000; and leisure and hospitality added 8,000. The sectoral breadth marked a shift from recent months, where growth had been more concentrated in a narrower set of industries.
“Hiring was more broad-based in May than we’ve seen in the last few years,” ADP Chief Economist Dr. Nela Richardson said in a statement. “The labor market continues to show sustained momentum going into the summer hiring season.”
Employment gains were distributed across company sizes. Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees added 49,000 jobs, the largest single contribution. Large firms with more than 500 employees added 40,000, and midsize companies accounted for the remainder. The pattern suggests that hiring strength is not limited to a particular segment of the business landscape.
Not all sectors posted gains. Natural resources and mining employment fell by 3,000, and information services shed 9,000 workers, indicating that the expansion remains uneven.
Economists will watch the forthcoming Labor Department jobs report to see whether the official figures confirm the trend. The May ADP reading, combined with other recent data that has shown a resilient labor market despite the ongoing Iran conflict and elevated borrowing costs, suggests the economy continues to generate jobs at a pace sufficient to keep the unemployment rate near historic lows.