U.S. companies in May added the fewest jobs since the pandemic recovery began, a private report showed, suggesting employers struggled to recruit and retain workers in the month despite a near-record level of job openings.
Businesses’ payrolls increased by 128,000 last month, held back by a decline in small business employment, according to ADP Research Institute data released Thursday. That followed a downwardly revised 202,000 gain in April, and trailed all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The weaker-than-expected figures indicate that companies are still struggling to hire from a limited pool of workers. That said, persistently high inflation combined with a falling savings rate may lure more Americans to work in the coming months.
