The employment report prepared by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and Moody's Analytics showed on Wednesday the U.S. private employers cut 2,760,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected a drop of 9,000,000.

The decrease for April was revised to -19,557,000 from the originally reported -20,236,000.

“The impact of the COVID-19 crisis continues to weigh on businesses of all sizes,” noted Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “While the labor market is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, job loss likely peaked in April, as many states have begun a phased reopening of businesses.”