Private-sector hiring skyrocketed in August, according to data released Wednesday.
Employers added a seasonally adjusted 237,000 jobs during the month, payroll processor ADP said. That was a big gain from the 178,000 jobs ADP reported in July, and which it revised up to 201,000. It also easily beat the Econoday consensus forecast of 185,000.
Small businesses added 48,000 employees, medium-sized businesses added 74,000 workers, and large businesses added 115,000 people. Nearly all the job gains came from the service sector, which produced 204,000 jobs. With the goods-producing sector, mining employment shed 1,000 jobs, construction added 18,000, and manufacturing added 16,000.
Analysts look to the ADP report for a hint of what the Labor Department™s jobs report, due two days later, may hold, although ADP™s record has been spotty.
As of Wednesday, economists surveyed by MarketWatch were calling for a gain of 175,000 in the government™s August jobs figures.
