U.S. shed 2.7 million jobs in May, private report says

June 3 (UPI) -- U.S. companies cut 2.7 million more jobs during the month of May, a monthly report by ADP and Moody's Analytics said Wednesday.

The report showed that large businesses, those with at least 1,000 employees, lost 1.3 million jobs; medium businesses lost 722,000 jobs; and small businesses cut 435,000.

The analysis attributed most of the cuts to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The impact of the COVID-19 crisis continues to weigh on businesses of all sizes," Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute, said. "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."

The trade, transportation and utilities sector lost 826,000 jobs, manufacturing cut 719,000, healthcare 333,000 and professional services 221,000.

Wednesday's report noted modest job gains in education (166,000) and administrative and support services (40,000).

The federal government's official jobs report will be released Friday. Most analysts project the figure to be about 8.8 million.