Private sector hiring increases by less than anticipated in August, ADP says

(Sharecast News) - Hiring in the US increased at a slower-than-expected pace last month, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed.
Consultancy ADP's non-farm private sector payrolls reports showed a 428,000 gain in employment.

That was less than the 900,000 person increased that economists had forecasts.

It was the largest enterprises, those with more than 1,000 staff, that reported the biggest increase in payrolls, of 270,000, followed by a 79,000 rise among medium-sized firms, which are those employing between 50 to 499 persons.

By sectors, services accounted for the lion's share of hiring, with companies adding 389,000 staff, against just 40,000 among goods-producing firms.

Leisure and hospitality reported the biggest rise, which reached 129,000, while healthcare and social assistance added 85,000.

Commenting on Wednesday's data, Michael Pearce at Capital Economics cautioned that the ADP report had been an especially poor predictor of the official monthly non-farm payrolls report since the pandemic hit.

Nevertheless, he too was expecting the rebound in hiring Stateside to shift down a gear, and was forecasting a 1.0m print for August non-farm payrolls (consensus: 1.52m).

Pearce also cautioned that both the official payrolls report and his own forecast incorporated an estimated 250,000 person boost to hiring for the Census.