Private-sector employment in April increased by only 119,000 jobs from March, the weakest job growth since September 2012, according to payroll processor ADP.
ADP’s National Employment Report, which is derived from the company’s actual payroll data, also said March’s job growth number, originally 158,000, was revised downward to 131,000.
The April figure fell more than 20 percent below expectations of job-market watchers polled by Yahoo. They expected job growth of between 150,000 and 155,000.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which collaborates with ADP on its monthly report, cited government fiscal policies in his assessment of the April findings. “Tax increases and government spending cuts are beginning to hit the job market,” he said. “Job growth has slowed across all industries and most significantly among companies that employ between 20 and 499 workers.”
ADP said most of the job growth – 113,000 positions – came from the services sector, while the remaining 6,000 came from the “goods producing” sector, which covers construction and manufacturing. While construction gained 15,000 jobs in April, manufacturers shed 10,000, the first decline in three months and the largest since last September, according to ADP.
