Private-sector employment fell by 39,000 from August to September on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the payroll company ADP's national employment report released Wednesday. Economists' consensus forecast was for a 20,000 gain.
"The decline in private employment in September confirms a pause in the economic recovery already evident in other data. A deceleration of employment occurred in all the major sectors shown in the ADP report and for all sizes of payroll," ADP reported in a news release. "There simply is no momentum in employment."
After the ADP report's release, stocks bounced around in a tight range Wednesday. At market close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 22.93 points, or 0.21%, at 10,967.65, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 0.78 point, or 0.07%, at 1,159.07, and the Nasdaq was down 19.17 points, or 0.8%, at 2380.66. The 10-year Treasury bond closed at 2.3990%, down 0.75.
In other employment news Wednesday, global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas said the pace of downsizing remained virtually unchanged in September as employers announced plans to cut 37,151 jobs during the month, a 7% increase from the 34,768 job cuts reported in August.
The September figure was the second lowest of 2010 and followed the lowest monthly job-cut total, 17,241, since June 2000. August's total was 44% below the 66,404 job cuts reported in September 2009.
Market watchers view the ADP report as a lead-up to the U.S. Labor Department's headline monthly jobs report, which is scheduled for release this Friday.
