The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in August, according to today’s employment report released by payroll-processing firm ADP and their partner Moody’s Analytics. This reflects slowed growth in comparison to the previous two months: 212,000 added in July and 297,000 in June, which were revised from 218,000and 281,000, respectively.
The August job gains may be down from earlier in the summer, but ADP president and CEO Carlos Rodriguez remains positive about the job market. “August marks the fifth straight month of employment gains above 200,000, continuing an encouraging trend for the U.S. labor market,” he said in a press release.
“Steady as she goes in the job market. Businesses continue to hire at a solid pace,” said Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi in the press release. “Job gains are broad based across industries and company sizes. At the current pace of job growth the economy will return to full employment by the end of 2016.”
The construction industry grew by 15,000 jobs over the course of the month. This is up from July’s gain of 13,000, but exactly half of the growth experienced in June with the addition of 30,000 jobs.
Manufacturing experienced significant growth, adding 23,000 jobs in August, the highest total in that sector since December 2012. The industry rose from a gain of 8,000 in the previous month and 14,000 in June.
The professional and business services sector, a broad category that most likely includes architects and engineers, experienced its second month of deflated growth. The addition of 51,000 jobs is down from 60,000 in July and 87,000 in June.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report is scheduled for release tomorrow morning, providing more detailed information about the economic state of the construction and architecture fields.
Charts: Maggie Goldstone; Source: ADP, Moody’s Analytics
