ADP said 32k private sector jobs were added in April, about in line with expectations of 30k and March was revised to a gain of 19k from the initial reading of -23k. The service sector was the main driver of job gains as it added 50k jobs with half coming from small businesses. Manufacturing also helped by adding 29k jobs. Construction though shed 49k jobs and the sector has now lost 2.16mm jobs since the high in Jan ’07. The financial services sector payrolls fell by 14k. Bottom line, as has been seen from the initial claims data, net firings have ended but the pace of hiring, while improved, still remains muted. Friday’s government payroll report will include public sector census workers and the estimated total job gain is 189k, 100k of which is expected to be private sector jobs.
