Private firms throughout the United States eliminated 20,236,000 jobs from March 12 to April 12, the worst loss in the history of the monthly ADP National Employment Report going back to 2002. The previous record high was 834,665 in February 2009 during the financial crisis and Great Recession that began in 2008.
"Job losses of this scale are unprecedented," said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute, which compiles the report along with Moody's Analytics. "The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession."
The staggering private payroll job losses in April swamped the total in March, which came to 701,000. The manufacturing sector lost 18,000 jobs in March.
The jaw-dropping unemployment numbers for April were due to movement and social distancing restrictions put in place to stem the spread of COVID-19. Removing customers from the equation in an economy where consumer spending accounts for three-fourths of GDP had disastrous consequences for business firms throughout the U.S. The destruction of consumer demand quickly led to job losses and business shutdowns.
Apart from showing 20,236,000 lost jobs in the nonfarm private sector between March 12 and April 12, the ADP report also reveals job losses per industry. The industry sectors hardest-hit by the unprecedented skyrocketing in unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic:
* Leisure and hospitality sector - 8,607,000 jobs lost
* Trade, transport and utilities - 3,440,000 jobs lost
* Construction - 2,477,000 jobs lost
* Manufacturing - 1,670,000 jobs lost
* Other services - 1,300,000 jobs lost
* Professional and business services - 1,170,000 jobs lost
* Healthcare and social assistance - 999,000 jobs lost
* Information services - 309,000 jobs lost
* Financial services - 216,000 jobs lost
The ADP report reveals larger companies have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus economic downturn. Companies with more than 1,000 employees shed 7,621,000 jobs. Those employing from 50 and 499 employees pared more than five million people. Companies with less than 20 employees let go of more than three million persons.
It wasn't all gloom on the jobs front, however. There were sectors reporting more employment. These were education with 28,000 hires and management of companies and enterprises with 6,000 new hires.
ADP believes the worst unemployment figures are over and done with.
"The worst of it is at hand," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "We should see a turn here relatively soon in the job statistics. At least for the next few months, I would anticipate some big, positive numbers."
