Bloomberg News
The numbers: Private-sector employment remained strong in April, as employers added 204,000 jobs, Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported Wednesday. That gain was above forecasts from economists polled by Econoday, who had expected on average an increase of 190,000. March’s gain was cut to show 228,000 growth instead of a previously estimated 241,000.
What happened: This is the sixth month in a row of job growth above 200,000. Details of ADP’s report showed that small firms added 62,000 jobs in April, medium-sized businesses added 88,000 and large companies added 54,000.
Big picture: Economists use ADP’s data to get a feeling for the Labor Department’s employment report, which will be released Friday and covers government jobs in addition to the private sector. Analysts had forecast the government’s report to show job growth rose by 188,000 jobs in April after a surprisingly small gain of 103,000 in March and a strong 326,000 in February. The unemployment rate is expected to tick down to 4% after six straight months at 4.1%.
What are they saying?: “The labor market continues to maintain a steady pace of strong job growth with little sign of a slowdown,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index index were set for muted moves on Wednesday as traders braced for the Federal Reserve’s coming policy statement.