U.S. private job losses down, factory orders up
The United States lost fewer private sector jobs in August than in the prior month while companies also planned fewer layoffs, suggesting modest improvement in the beleaguered U.S. labor market.
Tentative signs of recovery were also evident in data showing U.S. factories saw an increase in new orders in July for the fourth straight month, though the rise was smaller than economists had expected.
U.S. stocks were slightly lower on the day while the dollar rose against the yen and euro and U.S. government debt traded little changed.
Private employers cut 298,000 job positions last month, according to the ADP Employer Services report, jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.
That beat the 360,000 job losses seen in July, a month in which ADP initially said the economy shed 371,000 jobs.
“It’s fairly good news. It could have been much worse,” said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc said planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell 21 percent in August, boosting hopes for improved consumer spending in the coming months.
Still, the cumulative number of job cuts since January hit 1.07 million, 60 percent higher than in the same eight-month period last year.
And economists polled by Reuters had expected a more modest tally of 250,000 private job losses last month.
“I would say the trend is improving but the bottom line is that the U.S. economy is still bleeding jobs,” said Win Thin, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.
The government will release its more comprehensive payrolls report on Friday, and economists expect it to show that public and private employers cut 225,000 jobs in August, below July’s tally of 247,000 job losses.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed U.S. nonfarm productivity rose at a 6.6 annual rate in the second quarter, the biggest increase since the third quarter of 2003.
FACTORY ORDERS UP, MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS DOWN
Other data showed new orders at U.S. factories rose 1.3 percent in July after gaining 0.9 percent the prior month, lifted primarily by transportation and civilian aircraft orders.
Economists polled by Reuters, though, were hoping for a 2.2 percent increase. And with transport equipment excluded, orders fell 0.7 percent from the previous month.
Filed under: management by Wolf