Good news on jobs...

Although many media outlets have reported that job figures for August are alarming, a report released by ADP which manages payroll accounts tells a different story.

ADP National Employment Report® released yesterday concludes that private-sector employment increased by 201,000 from July to August on a seasonally adjusted basis. The estimated gain from June to July was revised up from the initial estimate of 163,000 to 173,000. 

The U.S. Labor Department also reported today that the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July. Both these indicators are good news for President Obama who is battling a re-election war against Mitt Romney who likes to fire people before they can finish their missions.

“According to this month’s ADP National Employment Report, the U.S. economy added 201,000 jobs in August, the largest increase in five months," said Carlos A. Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of ADP. "The improvement in job creation this month is encouraging and we hope it continues across all sectors of the U.S. economy.”

Employment in the private, service-providing sector also expanded 185,000 in August, up from 156,000 in July. Employment in the private, goods-producing sector added 16,000 jobs in August, while manufacturing employment rose 3,000, following an increase of 6,000 in July. Construction employment rose for the third consecutive month, adding 10,000 jobs, marking the best reading since March. The financial services sector added 8,000 jobs from July to August, marking the thirteenth consecutive monthly gain. 

According to Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, “The August increase...supports the notion that the underlying trend in hiring has picked back up after slowing sharply during the spring. The August increase was well above the consensus forecast for today’s release and for the official jobs number due out Friday from The Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

Prakken added: “The gain in private employment in August is strong enough to suggest that the national unemployment rate may have declined. Today’s estimate, if matched by a similar reading on employment from the BLS on Friday, will alleviate concerns that the economy has slipped into a downturn.”

Created by Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP®) in partnership with Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, The ADP National Employment Report is derived from actual payroll data and measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month. 

For more information on this report, go to: http://www.adpemploymentreport.com/pdf/FINAL_Release_August_12.pdf.