2020.05.0613:53:00UTC+00U.S. Private Sector Employment Plunges By More Than 20 Million Jobs In April

Private sector employment nosedived in the month of April, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP on Wednesday.

The report said private sector employment plunged by 20.236 million jobs in April after slumping by a revised 149,000 jobs in May.

Economists had expected employment to tumble by 20.050 million jobs compared to the loss of 27,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

ADP noted the report utilizes data through the 12th of the month, the same as the Labor Department's monthly jobs survey, and does not reflect the full impact of COVID-19 on the overall employment situation.

"Job losses of this scale are unprecedented. The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession," said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute.

The nosedive in private sector employment reflected job losses throughout the economy, with employment in the service-providing sector plummeting by more than 16 million jobs and employment in the goods-producing sector plunging more than 4 million jobs.

Job losses were also seen at businesses of all sizes, as employment at large businesses tumbled by nearly 9 million jobs, while employment at small at midsized businesses slumped by more than 6 million and 5 million jobs, respectively.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.

Economists expect the report to show a loss of nearly 22 million jobs, driving the unemployment rate up to approximately 16.3 percent.