The U.S. economy added 218,000 jobs in July, according to today’s employment report released by payroll-processing firm ADP and their partner Moody’s Analytics. This is down from June’s report of 281,000 and up slightly from the revised May report of 214,000.
Although the July numbers indicate slower growth compared to June, ADP president and CEO Carlos Rodriguez still chalks it up as positive, because this is the “fourth straight month of employment gains above 200,000,” he said in a press release.
“The July employment gain was softer than June, but remains consistent with a steadily improving job market. At the current pace of job growth, unemployment will quickly decline,” said Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi in a press release. “Layoffs are still receding and hiring and job openings are picking up. If current trends continue, the economy will return to full employment by late 2016.”
The economy added 12,000 construction jobs over the month—less than half of last month’s growth, in which the initial data represented the highest total in the industry since February 2006. July’s numbers indicate the lowest monthly gain in the construction industry since 8,000 jobs were added last August.
Manufacturing also experienced deflated growth, with a mere 3,000 jobs added in July. This is less than a third of June’s revised number of 10,000.
The professional and business services sector, a broad category that most likely includes architects and engineers, also took a downturn with 61,000 jobs added in July, compared to 79,000 added in June.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report is scheduled for release Friday morning, providing more detailed information about the economic state of the construction and architecture fields.
Charts: Maggie Goldstone; Source: ADP, Moody’s Analytics
