US private sector adds fewer jobs than expected in April

The US private sector added fewer jobs than expected in April, data released on Wednesday showed.

According to private consultancy ADP, employers added 156,000 jobs in April compared with a downwardly-revised 194,000 in March and much weaker than expectations of 196,000.

Meanwhile, goods-producing employment fell by 11,000 jobs in April, down from a downwardly-revised 5,000 the previous month.

The construction industry added 14,000 jobs, down from March’s 18,000, while manufacturing lost 13,000 jobs after being revised down to a 3,000 drop the previous month.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said: “The job market appears to have stumbled in April. Job growth noticeably slowed, with some weakness across most sectors. One month does not make a trend, but this bears close watching as the financial market turmoil earlier in the year may have done some damage to business hiring.”

David Morrison, senior market strategist at SpreadCo, said: “Investors see the ADP data as a ‘heads-up’ ahead of the official non-farm payroll report which is due out this Friday. It certainly is effective in measuring the overall trend in the data, but it can be patchy on a month-by-month basis.

“This is because the government’s number tends to be considerably more volatile, and of course it is this volatility that traders look for and react to. So the fact that today’s release was so far away from trend will have traders scratching their heads. It may be positive for risk assets for the Fed to hold off from hiking rates, but it sends a grim message about the US economy.”