ADP Says 173K Jobs Added To Private Payrolls In May

The May employment report isn't expected to be very strong but it may not prove, in contrast to expectations, to be any weaker than April, at least based on ADP's estimate for private payrolls which comes in at 173,000 vs ADP's revised 166,000 for April. The Econoday consensus for private payrolls in tomorrow's government report is noticeably lower, at 150,000 vs May's 171,000. ADP has been very accurate so far this year and today's results are bound to have forecasters wondering if they should boost their estimates, at least perhaps slightly, for tomorrow's big report.

Recent History Of This Indicator:
The ADP employment report is typically dismissed as being an unreliable gauge for the government's monthly employment report. Yet ADP has been very hot, performing much better than most forecasters and pointing reliably all year to directional shifts in the government's data. Forecasters see weakness in Friday's employment report for May but not weakness for ADP, at a consensus 175,000 vs April's 171,000 for the government's corresponding private payroll reading.