Private payrolls were much stronger than expected last month, as the ADP Employment Report showed that there were 278,000 jobs created in May. Annual pay for job stayers increased 6.5% and job changers saw an average increase of 12.1%. While these figures are still high, they reflect a year-long slowdown and lower wage-pressured inflation.

What’s the bottom line? ADP noted that “gains in private employment were fragmented last month.” Leisure and hospitality once again led the way with 208,000 job gains, which was more than double the growth reported in any other industry sector. However, these job gains may not continue to bolster the overall private payroll total for much longer.

In April 2019, there were 16.2 million leisure and hospitality employees and there are now 16.5 million after last month’s gains, meaning we have eclipsed where we were pre-Covid.