ADP: 692K New Jobs Added From May To June

The U.S. economy has added some three million jobs in the private sector since the start of 2021, including 692,000 new positions this month, according to the June ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday (June 30).

In May, 978,000 new jobs were added to the economy, the most since June 2020. The numbers are still below pre-pandemic levels, but are showing signs of steady overall improvement, Nela Richardson, chief economist of ADP, said in the press release announcing the report.

“The labor market recovery remains robust, with June closing out a strong second quarter of jobs growth,” Richardson said. “While payrolls are still nearly seven million short of pre-COVID-19 levels, job gains have totaled about three million since the beginning of 2021. Service providers, the hardest-hit sector, continue to do the heavy lifting, with leisure and hospitality posting the strongest gain as businesses begin to reopen to full capacity across the country.”

Some 624,000 jobs were added in the services sector; out of those, 332,000 positions were added in the travel and leisure verticals, according to the report. Goods-producing jobs went up by 68,000, with the biggest gains in the construction industry, with 47,000 new jobs.

This month’s total is more than the 600,000 estimate forecasted by Wall Street economists. The total for new jobs added in April was revised down 92,000 to 886,000, according to Yahoo! Finance.

The new jobs increase in May was the biggest gain since June of last year, with the services sector adding 850,000 jobs. Out of those, 440,000 new jobs were added in leisure and hospitality, which has suffered the most since the pandemic took hold in the U.S. The goods-producing space gained 128,000 positions. 

The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index was up in June, marking the highest level since the pandemic’s start last year, and the fifth consecutive month of increases. The Index is a measure that offers a glimpse into how people feel about spending money. Measures for short-term optimism and expectations about business conditions and personal finance also reflected increases.

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index was up to 85.5 over May’s final reading of 82.9, the second-highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase came even as consumers expected inflation to increase 4.2 percent over 2020, which is the second-highest level in 10 years.