The employment report prepared by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and Moody's Analytics showed on Thursday the U.S. private employers added 978,000 jobs in May. This marked the largest advance in private-sector employment since June 2020.

Economists had expected an increase of 650,000.

The April number saw a downward revision to 654,000 from the originally reported 742,000.

“Private payrolls showed a marked improvement from recent months and the strongest gain since the early days of the recovery,” noted Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “While goods producers grew at a steady pace, it is service providers that accounted for the lion’s share of the gains, far outpacing the monthly average in the last six months. Companies of all sizes experienced an uptick in job growth, reflecting the improving nature of the panemic and economy.”