Job growth is ‘consistently good’
By Paul Wiseman
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey shows U.S. businesses created a healthy 200,000 jobs this month.
The payroll company ADP said Wednesday that companies hired in July at the fastest pace since December. And it revised up its estimate of the number of jobs the private sector created in June from 188,000 to 198,000.
Professional and businesses services companies added 49,000 jobs this month, construction companies 22,000. But manufacturers shed 5,000.
Small businesses — those with fewer than 50 employees — added 82,000 jobs.
“Job growth is consistently good — solid across industries,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Analytics, which compiled the jobs report for ADP.
The healthy hiring suggests that the economy is handling tax cuts that took effect in January and federal spending cuts that began in March “more gracefully than I expected,” Zandi said in his final report.
He noted that the drop in manufacturing jobs probably reflected cuts by defense contractors pinched by a tighter federal budget. A weak global economy has also hurt U.S. exporters.
The ADP report is derived from payroll data and tracks private employment. It does not report government hiring.
ADP’s survey has diverged at times from the U.S. Labor Department’s more comprehensive monthly jobs report. The department’s employment report for July will be released Friday.
