U.S. companies pulled back on hiring in April
WASHINGTON - Hiring in April by U.S. companies fell to its slowest pace since early last year, hurt by slumping overseas sales and declining spending by U.S. energy companies.
Payroll processor ADP says businesses added just 169,000 jobs in April, down from 175,000 in the previous month. That was the fewest since January 2014. March's total was revised down from 189,000.
Economist Jim O'Sullivan of High Frequency Economics warned that the latest ADP numbers may augur a slightly weaker official payroll gain when the the U.S. Labor Department releases on Friday its April employment report.
The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and sometimes diverge from the government's more comprehensive report, which includes government agencies.
Employers added only 126,000 jobs in March, well below forecasts, while the labor market also slowed in January and February, according to the government. Broader economic growth also plunged to an anemic 0.2 percent in the first three months of the year.
Most experts attribute the slump in job-creation in recent months to harsh weather this winter and expect the economy to rebound over the rest of the year.
"Most other labour market indicators... suggest that the official non-farm payroll figures, due out this Friday, will show a much healthier 230,000 increase in employment," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist with Capital Economics, in a note.