June was a good month for job growth, according to both payroll-processing firm ADP and their partner Moody's Analytics and the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, after a soft month in May and disappointing month in April. July seems to be building on that success. ADP reports today that the economy added 200,000 new jobs in July. The goods-producing segment of the economy added 22,000 jobs and the service-providing segment added 177,000 jobs (the highest amount for the service sector since November, according to ADP). July's 200,000 new jobs added overall is the economy's best showing since December, and June's numbers were also revised up, from 188,000 to 198,000 jobs added, which makes June now tied with February for the second best month for job results in 2013.
Construction saw 22,000 jobs added, topping June's strong showing of 21,000 new jobs. Professional and business services, a large group that likely includes architects and engineers, kept chugging along with another good month of 49,000 jobs added, even better than last month's 40,000. ADP and Moody's doesn't break out architectural and engineering services the way that the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics does (see last month's BLS employment report for reference), but a high number like this for ADP's professional services sector does bode well that the BLS will deliver good news for architects and engineers in its July report, due out this Friday.
