United States businesses added 176,000 new jobs to the economy in August, new data from payroll processing company ADP claims. The new data has given many economists optimistic views of the US government’s upcoming jobs report.
The employment report, which will be released this Friday by the United States Labor Department, is expected to show a short-term increase in jobs after many private sector growth signals diminished in recent months.
The ADP report confirms many of the predictions, showing that a large increase in jobs has occurred in the last month. The majority of the new jobs in the report have been added by small and mid-sized businesses, indicating a possible new trend.
Of the 176,000 jobs added during August, over 71,000 were at small companies and local businesses. An estimated 74,000 were at mid-sized businesses. Finally, 32,000 new jobs were created at large companies, bucking previous employment trends.
As with previous employment progress, some sectors fared better than others. The biggest winners were the professional services sector, with 50,000 jobs, and trade, transportation, and utilities, which added 40,000 new jobs to the US economy.
The increase in housing sales across the United States resulted in 4,000 new jobs in the construction industry. Economists and political commentators have noted that a growing real estate market activity could lead to large-scale US job creation.
While the report has resulted in optimistic assessments regarding the government’s upcoming job report, some analysts believe that there could be a major difference in the findings of the reports. A previous Labor Department report estimated that only 161,000 jobs were created during July, compared to 200,000 from the ADP.
ADP has partnered with Moody’s Analytics to provide the reports, which, despite a range of initial accuracy issues, have come closer to matching US Labor Department reports in recent months.
