Private sector adds jobs at slower pace in July: ADP

Businesses added 185,000 jobs in June, payroll processor ADP said Wednesday, possibly signaling that the Labor Department this week will report a slowdown in hiring after solid gains the past three months.

June private payroll gains in June were revised down to 229,000 from an originally reported 237,000 increase, which was the biggest rise since December. Moody’s produces the figures with ADP. The result of those layoffs will be fewer job gains this year compared to 2015.

Goods-producing industries, which include manufacturers and construction companies, increased headcount by 8,000 in July, according to the ADP report.

A Labor Department report on Friday is projected to show employers, including government agencies, took on 225,000 workers last month, while the jobless rate held at a seven-year low of 5.3 percent. It measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis. “Most encouraging is the healthy rate of job growth among the nation’s smallest companies”.

The services sector added the lion’s share of positions with 178,000 new jobs.