US private payrolls growth slows sharply in August – ADP

A Chipotle restaurant advertises it is hiring in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., Aug 28, 2023. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File photo

WASHINGTON  – U.S. private payrolls increased less than expected in August, the latest indication that the labor market was losing steam, though it remains tight.

Private payrolls rose by 177,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment report showed on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment would increase by 195,000.

Data for July was revised higher to show 371,000 jobs added instead of the previously reported 324,000.

The labor market is gradually slowing as it adjusts to 525 basis points worth of interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve since March 2022.

The government reported on Tuesday that there were 1.51 job openings for every unemployed person in July, the lowest ratio since September 2021, compared with 1.54 in June. A survey from the Conference Board also showed consumers’ views of the labor market less upbeat in August.

The ADP report, jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, was published ahead of the release on Friday of the Labor Department’s more comprehensive and closely watched employment report for August.

It has not been a reliable gauge in trying to predict the private payrolls count in the employment report.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to report that private payrolls increased by 150,000 jobs in August. Including government employment, total nonfarm payrolls are forecast to have risen by 170,000 jobs in August after increasing 187,000 in July.