The monthly ADP labour market report showed that America created 192K new jobs in April, above the forecasted 179K and following +208K in March (revised from 184K).
Overall, there was a slight slowdown in wage growth to 5% y/y from 5.1% a month earlier, which is still quite high because of high employment and the impressive pace of job creation by historical measures.
The report noted weakness in the information sector, which cut jobs and slowed wage growth. When broken down by company size, large companies with more than 500 employees contributed the largest portion (+98K).
When broken down by industry, Construction surprised (+35K), which is huge for an industry that makes up only 5% of the labour force. Among services, Leisure and hospitality (+56K) led the way once again.
The ADP report fuelled expectations of a strong Friday’s official statistics. Still, its impact on the market is tempered by the market’s focus on today’s FOMC meeting and the decline in predictive power in recent months.