Roseland, NJ, October 4, 2006--Private employers added 78,000 jobs in September, according to the ADP National Employment Report. The number was below economists' forecasts, and below the previous month's gain.
The ADP report is released each month, two days prior to the government's own non-farm payrolls survey. In August, it said U.S. private employers added 107,000 jobs.
The median forecast for the ADP survey from eight economists surveyed by Reuters pointed to a reading of 110,000 jobs for the September ADP report.
"These findings indicate continued sluggish gains in private sector employment which, according to the ADP National Employment Report, have averaged just 95,000 over the past three months," Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, said in a statement.
ADP Employer Services employment report was jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.
Automatic Data Processing is the parent of ADP Employer Services and is a large payroll services company.
According to the latest Reuters poll of economists, the U.S. Labor Department on Friday is expected to show that 125,000 non-farm payroll jobs were created in September, down slightly from 128,000 in August.
U.S. Treasury debt prices rose after the release of the ADP figure, as the weaker-than-expected number suggested the Federal Reserve will continue to hold interest rates steady and could even move to reduce official interest rates next year.
