ADP says private sector added 428,000 new jobs in August

Private-sector companies added or regained 428,000 jobs in August, ADP said Wednesday, but the modest gain won’t dispel worries about a slowdown in hiring over the summer as the U.S. recovers from the coronavirus.

Wall Street economists had forecast an increase of 1 million private-sector jobs, according to Econoday. See ADP report

The increase in hiring last month topped a revised 212,000 increase in July, the giant payroll processor said. Initially ADP had reported that just 167,000 new jobs were created in that month.

The economy has recouped fewer than half of the 20 million-plus jobs lost in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

What’s worse, a number of companies such as American Airlines AAL, -2.44% and MGM MGM, -1.16% have recently announced new layoffs with their businesses still struggling months after the pandemic began.

Large companies boosted payrolls by 298,000, midsized companies by 79,000 and small companies by 52,000.

Hiring rose the fastest in hotels, restaurants, retail, education, health care and professional businesses.
The only segment of the economy to lose jobs again was information — media, public relations and the like.