Investing.com - U.S. private employers added 177,000, jobs in June, fewer than economists had forecast, a report by payrolls processor ADP showed on Thursday.
Economists had expected the ADP nonfarm payrolls report to show a gain of 190,000 jobs.
Private sector jobs growth was revised to 189,000 in May from a previously reported 178,000.
“The labor market continues to march towards full employment,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Healthcare led job growth once again and trade rebounded nicely.”
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “Business’ number one problem is finding qualified workers. At the current pace of job growth, if sustained, this problem is set to get much worse. These labor shortages will only intensify across all industries and company sizes.”
The ADP figures come ahead of the Labor Department's more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which includes both public and private-sector employment.
Economists are expecting the U.S. economy to have added 200,000 jobs after adding 223,000 positions in May, while the unemployment rate is forecast to remain steady at 3.8%.