Washington (AFP)

Work in the private sector collapsed in April due to containment measures to stem the new coronavirus pandemic, with 20.236 million jobs lost, according to the monthly survey of the business services firm ADP published on Wednesday.

The numbers are catastrophic. And yet they do not reflect the entire month since the investigation ends on April 12, said ADP in a statement.

Analysts had expected 21.5 million jobs lost in April compared to 149,000 in March (revised up sharply).

In April, job losses affected all categories of businesses.

Small (less than 50 employees) lost some 6 million jobs, medium-sized enterprises 5.26 million and large companies (more than 500 employees) 8.96 million.

"The job losses on this scale are unprecedented," said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-director of the ADP research institute in a statement.

"The total number of job losses in April alone was more than double the total number of jobs lost during the Great Recession," he said.

The service sector - with more than 16 million jobs lost - is paying the highest price.

Half of the jobs destroyed relate to the leisure and hotel sector.

Goods-producing businesses lost 4.2 million jobs, more than half of them in construction and nearly 1.7 million in manufacturing, the report said.

The ADP data is considered a barometer of the employment report to be released on Friday by the Ministry of Labor.

Private and public sectors combined, economists expect 28 million jobs lost in April due to widespread closings of companies to contain the virus.

© 2020 AFP