NEW YORK: Businesses added 201,000 jobs in May, payroll processor ADP said, as the labor market continued to bounce back from a rough winter.
Economists estimated ADP would tally 200,000 private-sector job gains. They predict the Labor Department’s closely watched employment survey this Friday of both private and public sectors will show 227,000 additions.
In May, ADP said, small businesses added 122,000; jobs; mid-sized ones, 65,000; and large companies, 13,000.
Trade, transportation and utilities led the job gains, with 56,000. Professional and business services added 28,000; and construction, 27,000. But manufacturers cut 5,000 jobs as the strong dollar continued to hammer US exports.
ADP’s initial estimate attempts to foreshadow Labor’s private-sector total but this year it has diverged from it by margins ranging from 44,000 to 76,000, according to an analysis by High Frequency Economics.
Unusually cold weather and a labor dispute at West Coast ports hobbled the economy early in the year, with output shrinking in the January-March period. In April, Labor said, employers added 223,000 jobs, a healthy rebound from the 85,000 added in March.
Other headwinds, such as a strong dollar that’s damping exports and a pullback in oil company drilling, could last longer. Analysts are closely monitoring a batch of reports this week to see if the economy has emerged quickly from its winter funk or will take longer to recover.
