Companies in U.S. Added Fewer Workers Than Forecast in June

(Bloomberg) -- Companies in the U.S. added fewer workers in June than forecast as a tight and still-solid labor market led to a slower pace of hiring, according to data released Thursday from the ADP Research Institute in Roseland, New Jersey.

Key Takeaways

The results, coming ahead of the government's monthly jobs report on Friday, showed broad gains across industries including manufacturing, construction, health care and trade and transportation.

Steady gains in employment are helping underpin consumer spending and lift economic growth even as uncertainty surrounding import tariffs poses a risk to the outlook for businesses. At the same time, wage growth is yet to develop a sustained acceleration even as employers frequently cite shortages of skilled workers.

A separate report showed U.S. filings for unemployment benefits rose to a six-week high at the end of June, while remaining consistent with a tight labor market and below year-ago levels. Jobless claims increased by 3,000 to 231,000 in the week ended June 30, according to the Labor Department. That compared with the median estimate of analysts for 225,000.

Economist's Views

“Business' number one problem is finding qualified workers,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said in a statement. Moody's produces the figures with ADP.“At the current pace of job growth, if sustained, this problem is set to get much worse. These labor shortages will only intensify across all industries and company sizes.”

Other Details

• Hiring in construction rose by 13,000; factories added 12,000 workers
• Professional and business services beefed up their workforce by 33,000 while health services added 37,000 workers
• Companies employing 500 or more workers increased staffing by 69,000 jobs; payrolls rose by 80,000 at medium-sized businesses, or those with 50 to 499 employees; and small companies' payrolls increased 29,000

--With assistance from Chris Middleton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle, Jeff Kearns

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.