A Summary of The ADP Jobs Report for May 2025

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:
  • 500+ employees: 4.8%