US private payrolls increase moderately in July, ADP says

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. private ‌payrolls growth ​slowed in ​July, the ADP national employment report showed on Wednesday.

Private employment increased by 44,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised 95,000 ‌gain in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment ⁠increasing by 70,000 after a previously reported 98,000 rise in June.

The education and health services ‌sector accounted for the bulk of ‌the job gains, with 36,000 positions added. But the leisure and hospitality industry shed 11,000 jobs. There were also job losses in the trade, ​transportation and utilities sector as well as the natural resources and mining industry.

Modest employment gains were reported in the professional and business services sector ⁠as well as the financial activities industry. Manufacturing payrolls increased 2,000 while the construction sector added 1,000 positions.

"Businesses ​are hiring less due to the extra cost pressure created by the jump in energy prices and AI, which is ​boosting the productivity of existing workers and ‌making medium-term staffing needs harder to judge," said Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

The ADP report is jointly developed with ⁠the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, and was published ahead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' more comprehensive and closely watched employment report for July on Friday. ADP has been ⁠a poor gauge of the BLS' private payrolls estimate.

The BLS reported on Tuesday that there ​were 1.04 open jobs for every unemployed person in June, little changed from May. A Reuters survey of economists predicted that private payrolls increased 78,000 in July after rising ‌49,000 in June.

Overall nonfarm payrolls are forecast advancing 80,000 after increasing 57,000 in June. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold ‌steady at 4.2%. There is, however, a risk the jobless rate could edge ⁠higher after a Conference Board survey ‌last week showed the ​share of consumers viewing jobs as "plentiful" dropped in July to the lowest level since February 2021.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by ‌Andrea Ricci)

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