ADP Jobs Report Disappoints

Source: US News and World Report

The April figure came in well below consensus, but it's not quite time to panic

By Danielle Kurtzleben
May 2, 2012

The private sector added 119,000 jobs in April, according to estimates from payroll processing firm ADP. The figure comes as a disappointment, as consensus estimates had been 40 to 50,000 jobs higher.

"I would say it was a surprisingly weak number, a disappointingly weak number," says Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, an economic research firm. "I think this number is going to cause some excitement. It likely will fuel speculation that the economy has downshifted."

The figure does not bode well for Friday's Labor Department jobs report. Consensus estimates for that figure are also around 170,000, and the ADP figure often tracks closely with government figures. In addition, the report shows disappointing job losses in two areas working to climb out of the hole dug by the recession. Construction lost 5,000 jobs last month, the first decline in seven months, and manufacturing employment also fell by 5,000 jobs, that industry's first decline since September.
....

Indeed, not all signs point to a disappointing Friday jobs report. Gallup reported this morning that its April Job Creation Index is near a four-year high, at +20. That figure reflects the difference between the percentage of workers saying their employers are hiring (36 percent) and those who say their employers are shedding workers (16 percent).

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/05/02/adp-jobs-report-disappoints

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This should be in LBN.

There are four related threads about the April jobs estimate at DU already. Three are in General Discussion, and they are based on the figures from ADP. The fourth, in LBN, paints a contrasting picture. It relies on the figures from Gallup.

Per CNBC - ADP Numbers bad, posted by Laura PourMeADrink

BAD: ADP JOBS REPORT MISSES EXPECTATIONS BY A MILE, posted by xchrom

ADP & TrimTabs Showing Much Weaker Payrolls Ahead of Unemployment Report, posted by marmar

U.S. Job Creation Nears Four-Year High, posted by brooklynite

ETA: I took a screen shot of the DU home page at 11:04. The two leading stories in LBN are "ADP Jobs Report Disappoints" and "U.S. Job Creation Nears Four-Year High."

There's a joke about economists in there somewhere. I apologize to any economists whose feelings are hurt, etc.