By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

The ADP National Employment Report for May 2025 indicates that private sector employment increased by 37,000 jobs, and annual pay was up 4.5% year-over-year. This report is an independent, high-frequency measure of the private-sector labor market, based on actual, anonymized payroll data from over 25 million U.S. employees.

Job Market Overview: According to Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, hiring is losing momentum after a strong start to the year, with the pace of hiring in May reaching its lowest level since March 2023. Despite this, pay growth remained robust for both job-stayers and job-changers.

Job Statistics by Sector, Region, and Establishment Size:

Change by Industry Sector:

• Overall Private Employment Change: 37,000
• Goods-producing sectors saw a decline of 2,000 jobs, with specific changes including:
  • Natural resources/mining: -5,000 jobs
  • Construction: +6,000 jobs
  • Manufacturing: -3,000 jobs
• Service-providing sectors saw an increase of 36,000 jobs, with specific changes including:
  • Trade/transportation/utilities: -4,000 jobs
  • Information: +8,000 jobs
  • Financial activities: +20,000 jobs
  • Professional/business services: -17,000 jobs
  • Education/health services: -13,000 jobs
  • Leisure/hospitality: +38,000 jobs
  • Other services: +4,000 jobs

Change by U.S. Regions:

• Northeast: -19,000 jobs
  • New England: -16,000 jobs
  • Middle Atlantic: -3,000 jobs
• Midwest: +20,000 jobs
  • East North Central: +23,000 jobs
  • West North Central: -3,000 jobs
• South: -5,000 jobs
  • South Atlantic: +20,000 jobs
  • East South Central: +19,000 jobs
  • West South Central: -44,000 jobs
• West: +37,000 jobs
  • Mountain: +35,000 jobs
  • Pacific: +2,000 jobs

Change by Establishment Size:

• Small establishments (1-49 employees): -13,000 jobs
  • 1-19 employees: -6,000 jobs
  • 20-49 employees: -7,000 jobs
• Medium establishments (50-499 employees): +49,000 jobs
  • 50-249 employees: +51,000 jobs
  • 250-499 employees: -2,000 jobs
• Large establishments (500+ employees): -3,000 jobs

Pay Insights:

• Year-over-year pay growth for job-stayers was 4.5%, which was little changed in May.
• Pay for job-changers rose 7%, remaining unchanged from April’s revised figure.

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Industry Sector:

• Goods-producing:
  • Natural resources/mining: 4.5%
  • Construction: 4.6%
  • Manufacturing: 4.6%
• Service-providing:
  • Trade/transportation/utilities: 4.2%
  • Information: 4.2%
  • Financial activities: 5.2%
  • Professional/business services: 4.2%
  • Education/health services: 4.6%
  • Leisure/hospitality: 4.8%
  • Other services: 4.3%

Median Change in Annual Pay for Job-Stayers by Firm Size:

• Small firms:
  • 1-19 employees: 2.6%
  • 20-49 employees: 4.1%
• Medium firms:
  • 50-249 employees: 4.8%
  • 250-499 employees: 4.9%
• Large firms:

Related