U.S. businesses were busy adding workers last month, according
to an employment survey released Wednesday. Small businesses
accounted for about half of the hiring.
Private payrolls in the U.S. increased by 237,000 jobs in June,
says the national employment report compiled by payroll processor
Automatic Data Processing and forecasting firm Moody's
Analytics.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected ADP
would report a gain of 220,000 jobs last month. The May ADP
increase was revised to 203,000 from 201,000.
The ADP report is released ahead of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics' employment situation report. The BLS report is
scheduled for Thursday instead of the usual Friday because U.S.
financial markets will be closed Friday for Independence Day
observation.
Economists expect the BLS will report June nonfarm payrolls
(which include government positions) increased by 233,000 jobs,
fewer than the 280,000 slots created in May. The June unemployment
rate is projected to slip to 5.4% from 5.5%.
Given how close the ADP change was to expectations, economists
are unlikely to change their BLS forecasts.
According to ADP, small businesses are still powering job
growth. Firms employing between 1-49 workers added 120,000 new
workers last month. Medium-size businesses with payrolls of 50-499
workers added 86,000 employees. Large firms with 500 or more
employees hired a more modest 32,000 workers.
Manufacturing added 7,000 jobs last month, said ADP. The service
sector hired 225,000 new employees. Construction payrolls increased
by 19,000 slots.
In other job-related news out Wednesday, Challenger, Gray &
Christmas said employers announced layoffs totaling 44,842 workers
in June, up 9.3% from the May level. The report said layoffs in the
first half of the year were up 17% in the same period of 2014. The
surge mainly reflected troubles in the oil sector.
Write to Kathleen Madigan at kathleen.madigan@wsj.com
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