Private payrolls rose more than expected in June, ADP reported this morning, with a gain of 692,000 jobs. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were looking for a gain of 600,000 jobs. The figure was a drop from the 886,000 jobs aded by private employers in May.
The biggest gains came, again, in the service sector. Leisure and hospitality jobs rose by 332,000 in June. Education and health services posted gains of 123,000. The goods-producing sector saw job gains in construction (47,000 jobs) and manufacturing (19,000 jobs.)
Stocks edged higher on the report with the Standard & Poor’s 500 gaining 0.13% by the close and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with its heavy exposure to cyclicals, adding 0.61%. The NASDAQ Composite lost 0.17% and the NASDAQ 100 dropped 0.12%. The small cap Russel 2000 finished ahead 0.07%.
Friday brings the June job report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The ADP survey isn’t a reliable indicator of the government employment numbers due to differences in how they define employment. The absolute error between the ADP and Labor Department private payrolls data has been 486,000 since January, according to an analysis from High Frequency Economics.
The government’s June report on Friday is expected to show the U.S. economy added back 700,000 non-farm jobs.
