The job market's slow improvement got even more sluggish in May, as private sector employers added only 38,000 workers and the number of planned job cuts rose, according to two reports released Wednesday.
Payroll processing company ADP said private-sector payrolls grew by 38,000 in May, after a downwardly revised 177,000 increase in April. The number came in far below economists' expectations for private sector job growth of 170,000 for the month.
At the same time, the pace of planned job cuts edged higher, with government sector layoff announcements dominating the numbers, according to a report released by outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
That report showed 37,135 jobs went on the chopping block, a 1.8% increase from April's 36,490.
Year over year, they dropped 4.3% from 38,810 in May 2010.
Government positions accounted for 14,755, or 40%, of all announced layoffs during the month.
The May numbers mean employers announced 204,374 job cuts in 2011, 21% less than the 258,319 layoffs in the first five months of 2010.
The ADP and Challenger reports typically set the tone for the government's highly anticipated monthly employment data, which is due Friday. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney predict that the economy added 176,000 new jobs in May, and that the unemployment rate edged down to 8.9%.
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