The May jobs report shows that nonfarm payroll employment rose 75,000 following 263,000 new hires in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. May’s rate of unemployment stayed at 3.6%.

In April, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed, the BLS reported. Long-term unemployment was 22.4% in May compared with 21.1% in April.

Is May’s drop in job creation a sign of a slowing economy? "One month doesn’t make a trend," according to Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, hourly wages barely rose in May. "Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 6 cents to $27.83," the BLS reported.

The CEO of Walmart Inc., the nation’s biggest private-sector employer, is calling for an increase in the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, the current rate since July 2009. Such a hike in hourly pay would increase the buying power of workers.

The weekly hours of work were static. "The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.4 hours in May."

For major worker groups, the rates of unemployment "for adult men (3.3%), adult women (3.2%), teenagers (12.7%), whites (3.3%), blacks (6.2%), Asians (2.5%) and Hispanics (4.2%)" showed scant or no change in May, according to the BLS.

In May, midsize employers (50-499 employees) hired 11,000 workers, a sharp drop from 145,000 new hires in April, according to the ADP National Employment Report. Large firms (500 or more workers) hired 68,000 workers in May, a rise from 53,000 workers in April. Hiring by small businesses (payrolls of 1-49 employees) dropped by 52,000 jobs compared with hiring 77,000 new employees in April. National franchise employment climbed to 9,500 new hires in April from 4,000 in March and 24,500 in February.

The ADP National Employment Report comes from ADP nonfarm private sector payroll data representing 411,000 U.S. clients and nearly 24 million employees, published in alliance with Moody's Analytics. There are 157 million workers in the U.S. labor force.

According to the ADP/Moody’s report, the services sector added 71,000 jobs in May versus 223,000 jobs in April. Professional and business services employment added 22,000 new hires in May compared with 59,000 new hires in April.

Payrolls in the goods-producing sector lost 43,000 jobs after adding 53,000 new hires in April. Manufacturing firms lost 3,000 jobs in May versus adding 5,000 jobs in April, while construction firms lost 36,000 jobs in May after hired 49,000 workers in April.

"Following an overly strong April, May marked the smallest gain since the expansion began," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. "Large companies continue to remain strong as they are better equipped to compete for labor in a tight labor market."

Mark Zandi is chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. "Job growth is moderating," he said. "Labor shortages are impeding job growth, particularly at small companies, and layoffs at brick-and-mortar retailers are hurting."