Private sector employment increased by 42,000 from June to July on a seasonally adjusted basis, mainly due to hiring at small and midsized businesses, according to the latest report from payroll giant ADP.
The report found that small businesses and midsized businesses alike added 21,000 jobs, but found no net increase among large businesses. The goods-producing sector lost 21,000 jobs, while the service-providing sector added 63,000 jobs. The manufacturing industry lost 6,000 jobs.
Among small businesses with less than 50 employees, the goods-producing sector lost 8,000 jobs, while the service-providing sector added 29,000 jobs.
"July's rise in private employment was the sixth consecutive monthly gain, said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, which compiles the reports for ADP. However, over those six months, increases have averaged a modest 37,000, with no evidence of acceleration."
He noted that unlike the estimate of total establishment employment to be released on Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ADPs figures do not include the effects of federal hiring and now firing for the 2010 census.
Hiring for the census peaked in May, said Prakken. For this reason, Friday's figure for the change in nonfarm total employment reported by the BLS might be weaker than today's estimate for nonfarm private employment in the ADP report."
