New York, June 4 (IANS): Private sector employment in the US decreased by 2.7 million jobs from April to May, according to a new report which raised hope that the worst could be over for the labour market as job losses were far fewer than expected.

While large businesses shed more than 1.6 million jobs in May, medium businesses cut 722,000 jobs, and small businesses reduced 435,000 jobs, said the ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday.

The total number in May was way below the 9 million job cuts forecast by economists at Refinitiv, FOXBusiness reported.

The 2.7 million decrease in private sector jobs in May followed the revised 19.6 million decrease in April, said the ADP report based on payroll data.

"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 in a statement.

"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 report, which is derived from ADP's actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

Due to the impacts of Covid-19, over 40 million Americans have filed for first-time jobless benefits since mid-March.