Workers box jars of pasta sauce at a plant run by Chelten House Products in Bridgeport, New Jersey July 27, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)
The ADP National Employment Report showed the U.S. private sector added 177,000 jobs in April, topping the median forecast of 170,000. The slowdown in April was largely due to larger-than-average growth in winter construction pulling back and retail jobs continuing to cool.
“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.”
Construction dipped in April by 2,000 after very strong gains in the previous two months, though the goods-producing sector overall added. 12,000. That includes 3,000 in Natural Resources & Mining and another 11,000 in Manufacturing.
“Job growth slowed in April due to a pullback in construction and retail jobs,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics said. “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.”
The ADP National Employment Report has run contrary to the Labor Department report conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March, private sector payrolls expanded in the report by 263,000, nearly three times the BLS jobs report showing 98,000.
Still, despite the slowdown in March, job creation during the first 100 days of the new administration easily beat the same period of the prior three administration. The U.S. economy lost 1.5 million jobs in the first 100 days of the previous administration, which came in as the Great Recession was ending, and the Bush administration only saw 45,000 jobs.
In the 1990s, under the first 100 days of Bill Clinton, the U.S. economy tacked on 194,000 jobs, while it added 317,000 in the first 100 days of the Trump Administration.
Small business that employ between 1 and 49 employees added a solid percentage of 61,000 jobs, while mid-size (50-499) added 78,000. Large businesses with 500 employees ore more added 38,000, boding well for wages.
