Following March’s dismal drop in the ADP Employment report (the biggest miss in 4 years) and missing for 3 straight months, April printed a very weak 169k (against notably lower expectations of a 200k rise). Even worse, February and March was revised even lower. This is lower than the lowest economist estimate.
Large companies were particularly weak which is to be expected considering the unprecedented M&A and buyback spree which is entirely at the expense of workers (and wages) while smaller businesses adding the bulk of the meager jobs print. All job gains were in the Services segment with Manufacturing losing 10,000 jobs in April and the goods-producing sector losing 1,000.
The esteemed Mark Zandi blames this on “the fallout from the collapse of oil prices and the surging value of the dollar.”
Must be the oil port strike again. Or perhaps it rained in the spring?
The details:
From the report:
Payrolls for businesses with 49 or fewer employees increased by 94,000 jobs in April, down from 105,000 in March. Employment among companies with 50-499 employees increased by 70,000 jobs, up from 64,000 the previous month. Employment gains at large companies – those with 500 or more employees – decreased slightly from March, adding 5,000 jobs in April, down from 6,000. Companies with 500-999 employees added no jobs, after adding just 2,000 in March. Companies with over 1,000 employees added 5,000 jobs, a small improvement from 4,000 the previous month.
Goods-producing employment declined by 1,000 jobs in April, down from 3,000 jobs gained in March.
The construction industry added 23,000 jobs, up from 21,000 last month. Meanwhile, manufacturing lost 10,000 jobs in April, after losing 3,000 in March.
Service-providing employment rose by 170,000 jobs in April, down slightly from 172,000 in March. The ADP National Employment Report indicates that professional/business services contributed 34,000 jobs in April, up from March’s 28,000. Expansion in trade/transportation/utilities grew by 44,000, up from March’s 41,000. The 7,000 new jobs added in financial activities is a drop from last month’s 12,000.
“April job gains came in under 200,000 for the second straight month,” said Carlos Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of ADP. “Companies with 500 or more employees had the slowest growth.”
