Private-sector adds 114,000 jobs in July: ADP

The private sector added more jobs in July than June, but the pace of job creation remains slow, according to the ADP National Employment Report. Automatic Data Processing Inc. said nonfarm private payrolls increased by 114,000 jobs in July on a seasonally adjusted basis. That’s lower than the revised 145,000 for June, which was down from 157,000 previously reported. The payroll giant conducts the monthly survey, which excludes federal jobs, in conjunction with Macroeconomic Advisers. “Today’s report shows modest job creation for the month of July at a rate of half what is needed for meaningful employment and economic recovery,” said Gary Butler, chief executive of ADP. “Construction lost 11,000 jobs this month, and manufacturing and financial services were nearly flat with losses of 1,000 each.” The consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Econoday called for just 86,000 new private-sector jobs in July with a range of estimates from 60,000 to 145,000. The private sector added 157,000 new jobs in June after tacking on a mere 38,000 in May. Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, said employment continued to advance at a moderate pace in July. “This gain of employment growth is moderately above the consensus forecast for Friday’s jobs number from the BLS, and this pace of job creation usually implies a steady unemployment rate. However, employment is decelerating. Since February, the three-month percent change has declined every month, from 0.60% then to 0.27% in July,” Prakken said. On Friday, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports July nonfarm payroll data. Prakken also said the slowdown in July employment “makes more sense in light of last week’s revised GDP numbers showing the economy grew slower late last year and this year than initially reported.” Write to Jason Philyaw.