WASHINGTON: US private employers hired fewer workers than expected for a second straight month in August, suggesting that the labour market recovery was slowing as the COVID-19 pandemic persists and government money to support workers and employers dries up.
Private payrolls increased by 428,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment Report showed. Data for July was revised higher to show hiring up by 212,000 jobs instead of the initially reported 167,000. The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics counts workers as employed if they received a paycheck during the week that includes the 12th of the month.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, private payrolls probably increased by 1.250 million jobs in August after rising 1.462 million in July. Such a gain would result in nonfarm payrolls advancing by 1.4 million jobs last month after increasing 1.763 million. That would leave nonfarm payrolls about 11.5 million below their pre-pandemic level.
The Fed also noted that"firms continued to experience difficulty finding necessary labour, a matter compounded by day care availability, as well as uncertainty over the coming school year and jobless benefits." Data from Kronos, a workforce management software company, showed seasonally adjusted shift growth continued to stagnate in August, while figures from Homebase, a payroll scheduling and tracking company, showed little change in employment last month from July.