Private-sector hiring slows in April, stirs concern

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Private-sector hiring slows in April, stirs concern

By Leah Schnurr

NEW YORK | Wed May 2, 2012 12:41pm EDT

(Reuters) - U.S. companies hired the fewest people in seven months in April, a worrisome sign for a labor market that has struggled to gain traction and adding to concerns that the economy has lost some momentum.

The ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday showed the private sector added 119,000 jobs last month, below economists' expectations for a gain of 177,000 jobs. The March figure was also revised lower.

The report comes two days before the government's broader and much-watched monthly jobs report.

"This is an upsetting report," said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Advisors in New York.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/02/us-usa-economy-employment-adp-idUSBRE8410OV20120502

[Dawson Leery]

1. ADP's estimates have been off by a large margin.

"For what it's worth, the first print of ADP ... has had some big misses in recent months in either direction compared to the first print of private payrolls. For instance, ADP overshot by 88,000 in March, undershot by 87,000 in January and overshot by 113,000 in December," Basile said in a note.

[OnlinePoker]

2. The problem is they can be up and down by equally large margins

Here's the last 3 months increase in private sector employment (as originally reported, not adjusted a month later):

Mar ADP - 209,000 BLS - 121,000 ADP Diff +88,000
Feb ADP - 216,000 BLS - 233,000 ADP Diff -17,000
Jan ADP - 152,000 BLS - 257,000 ADP Diff -105,000

Take what they report with a grain of salt.