Private employers added 122,000 jobs in May, according to the ADP National Employment Report.
Pay for job-stayers rose 4.4 percent year-over-year. For job-changers, pay growth slowed slightly to 6.5 percent.
Eight out of 10 supersectors showed gains. Employers of all sizes were hiring, with small establishments adding 67,000 jobs.
Education and health services led gains with 57,000 jobs added. Trade, transportation and utilities added 36,000 jobs. Professional and business services added 11,000.
Construction added 8,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 8,000. Financial activities added 7,000. Other services added 4,000. Manufacturing added 3,000.
Information lost 9,000 jobs. Natural resources and mining lost 3,000.
By region, the West added 45,000 jobs. The Northeast added 35,000. The Midwest added 21,000. The South added 23,000.
“Hiring was more broad-based in May than we’ve seen in the last few years,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “The labor market continues to show sustained momentum going into the summer hiring season.”
The ADP National Employment Report is based on anonymized weekly payroll data of more than 26 million private-sector employees. ADP’s Pay Insights captures over 15 million individual pay change observations each month.
The April total was revised from 109,000 to 105,000 jobs added.
The report provides a high-frequency picture of the private-sector labor market. It offers insight into hiring trends and wage growth across industries, firm sizes and regions.
For Southern Maryland, the data reflects national patterns that may influence local hiring in key sectors such as education and health services, construction, leisure and hospitality, and small businesses. Wage growth for job-stayers remained steady, which can affect retention and recruitment in the region.
The June 2026 ADP National Employment Report will be released on July 1 at 8:15 a.m. ET. Additional data and interactive charts are available at adpemploymentreport.com.
