Private payrolls added 177,000 jobs last month, according to this morning’s ADP National Employment Report. That number was slightly above the average of economists’ predictions, which ranged from 140,000 to 236,000 jobs, according to Reuters, but lower than the previous month’s revised tally of 255,000 jobs.
“In April we saw a moderate slowdown from the strong pace of hiring in the first quarter,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Despite a dip in job creation, the growth is more than strong enough to accommodate the growing population as the labor market nears full employment. Looking across company sizes, midsized businesses showed persistent growth for the past six months.”
Midsized businesses (50-499 employees) added 78,000 jobs last month, while small businesses (1-49 employees) added 61,000 jobs and large businesses (500 or more employees) added 38,000 jobs.
Where Jobs Are Growing (and Where They’re Not)
“Job growth slowed in April due to a pullback in construction and retail jobs,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which produces the report with ADP. “The softness in construction is continued payback from outsized growth during the mild winter. Brick-and-mortar retailers cut jobs in response to withering competition from online merchants.”
Construction shed 2,000 jobs last month. Other goods-producing industries fared better: mining added 3,000 jobs, while manufacturing added 11,000 jobs.
On the service-providing side, the following industries added jobs in April:
- Professional/business services (72,000 jobs)
- Leisure/hospitality (35,000 jobs)
- Healthcare (22,000 jobs)
- Education (19,000 jobs)
- Trade/transportation/utilities (5,000 jobs)
- Financial activities (2,000 jobs)
- Information (1,000 jobs)
Friday’s report from the Labor Department, which includes data for all non-farm payrolls, is expected to show the addition of 185,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent.
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