Sluggish economic growth appears to be slowing U.S. job creation.

Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday private companies added only 38,000 jobs in May. ADP also said fewer private sector jobs had been created in April than previously thought.

Many economists look at the ADP report as an indicator of what the more comprehensive government-issued employment report will say. That report from the Labor Department is due out Friday.

In a second survey released Wednesday, the job staffing company Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported U.S. employers announced more than 37,000 layoffs in May, up from the month before.

The Challenger report said there were fewer announced layoffs in May compared to the same time last year. Chief Executive John Challenger said the relatively small number of layoffs shows most employers are not worried about the long-term health of the U.S. economy.

Last month the U.S. unemployment rate rose slightly, to hit 9 percent.

The U.S. economy grew at a 1.8 percent rate for the first three months of the year.