private sector jobs

Private employers added a much-better-than-expected 217,000 jobs in February, ADP has reported. That's the fifth straight month of job gains in the private sector -- another sign that the U.S. labor market continues to slowly heal.

The economy lost 95,000 jobs in September, because the private sector hired only 64,000 workers while governments cut 159,000. The jobless rate remains 9.6%. Minus the usual boosts from housing and consumers, the U.S. still lacks a catalyst for new jobs.

The private sector created 67,000 jobs in August, more than the 40,000 gain economists had forecast. And job-loss totals for June and July were revised substantially downward. The jobless rate ticked up to 9.6% as more people started looking for jobs.

Employment just can't get cranked up: ADP reports that the private sector added a scant 13,000 jobs in June, well below expectations. Ominously, the firm notes that "private employment may have decelerated heading into summer."

Just call it a month in which the private-sector job market treaded water: It lost 203,000 jobs in October, following a revised 227,000 reduction in September, according to data compiled in the ADP National Employment Report. September's original loss estimate was 254,000. Economists surveyed by...

The ADP private sector jobs report for May released this morning suggests that while job losses are still at intolerably high levels, job losses may have peaked. The private sector cut 532,000 jobs in May, following a revised 491,000-job-loss in April, according to data compiled in the ADP...

Private sector layoffs continued at a thoroughly uncomfortable pace in March. In fact, the March ADP National Employment Report was downright ugly. Non-farm, private employment decreased by 742,000 in March -- worse than expected, ADP announced Wednesday in its report (pdf). In February and...