ROSELAND, N.J. – Hiring at U.S. companies last month lagged expectations, as nonfarm private employers added 38,000 jobs, slowing from job-growth of 41,000 the month before, according to a report today from ADP Employer Services.
The increase lagged the 80,000-jobs median forecast from a Bloomberg News survey of 21 economists. A report due Friday from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics was expected to show a bigger increase, the survey found.
The ADP National Employment Report “suggests that a deceleration of employment may be underway,” the payroll-services company wrote. “The August increase of 38,000 was the smallest since June of 2003 and the second consecutive weak monthly reading.”
Service-sector employment expanded by a “moderate” 87,000 jobs in August, while manufacturing-sector employment shrank by 49,000 in its ninth consecutive month of declines, ADP said.
Employment at large businesses also shrank, falling 32,000 last month, as small and medium-sized businesses added 70,000 workers.
“This is another in a series of reports pointing to a softer labor market,” John Shin, an economist at Lehman Brothers in New York, told Bloomberg News. “It’s the real effect from the drop in housing. The Fed needs to cut rates, and we think they will.”
ADP Employment Services – a division of Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP) – is the publisher of the monthly ADP National Employment Report and handles payroll for 1 in 6 private-sector employees nationwide. To learn more, visit www.adp.com.
