August payroll worse than expected, July revised downward

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The pace of U.S. private sector job growth slowed in August for the second month in a row with employers adding 91,000 positions, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 100,000 jobs. July’s private payrolls were revised down to an increase of 109,000 from the previously reported 114,000.

August’s gain was the smallest number of private jobs added since May’s disappointingly small reading of 35,000.

The ADP figures come ahead of the U.S. government’s much more comprehensive labor market report on Friday, which includes both public and private sector employment.

That report is expected to show a rise in overall nonfarm payrolls of 75,000 in August, based on a Reuters poll of analysts, and a rise in private payrolls of 105,000.