U.S. Businesses Created Uninspiring 374,000 Private Jobs in August

U.S. private employers hired far fewer workers than expected in August, but the labor market continues to gradually rebound.

Source: ADP

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Private payrolls rose by 374,000 jobs last month. Data for July was revised downwards to show 326,000 added rather than the initially reported 330,000.

ADP’s initial private payrolls numbers for July fell short of the 703,000 private jobs reported by the BLS.

Nela Richardson, the chief economist at ADP, stated that data highlighted a downshift in the labor market recovery, following significant job growth from the first half of the year.

Medium-sized businesses added 149,000 jobs in August. Large businesses created 138,000 jobs, and small businesses with a maximum of 49 employees registered 86,000 payroll gains.

Jobs in the goods-producing sector were up by 45,000, with 30,000 in construction, 9,000 in natural resources and mining, and 6,000 in manufacturing.

With government employment expected to have increased by about 50,000, that would lead to overall payrolls advancing by 750,000 jobs. The economy created 943,000 in July.