May Was Weak Month For Employment Gains, Says ADP

That’s a much slower rate of growth than the 177,000 jobs the economy added in April or the 203,000 jobs added in March. But this deceleration, “while disappointing, is not entirely surprising,” ADP said. In the first quarter of 2011, the GDP grew only 1.8 percent, not enough to stimulate serious employment growth.

Service-sector employment fared better this month than goods-producing: in the service sector, employment rose by 48,000, while the goods-producing sector lost 10,000 jobs after six consecutive months of gains.

This report is compiled from half a million of ADP’s clients’ data (ADP processes payroll for many, many companies) yet is still only an estimate: official government figures will be out Friday