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| Economy |
| Promises, promises...no jobs show in ADP report |
| 2010-04-01 |
| Where, oh where, will the jobs come from; oh where or where can they be? Optimistic investors and economists promised jobs would be materializing by now. But, instead, 23,000 more private sector jobs evaporated in March. How .. unexpected ... The figures released today in the so-called ADP report, "call into question the growing presumption that private-sector firms have turned the corner from job shedding to net hiring," said Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius. Employment fell at large and small firms, although the decline was slightly worse at small firms. Smaller companies, of course, continue to have trouble borrowing money. They lost 12,000 jobs, while medium companies lost 4,000 and large corporations 7,000. The worst losses were among goods producers and manufacturers. The disappointment spurred a decline in the stock market, but not a huge dive on the last day of the quarter. The Dow finished down about 50 points but climbed 4.1 percent for the quarter -- a nice climb for a single quarter. Still, investors are a little on edge as they await Friday's unemployment report. Hatzius, who was a little discouraged by today's ADP report, did not amend his outlook. He is expecting a 275,000 improvement in employment in Friday's numbers. Employment should get a boost from government hiring for the census. Hatzius estimates 125,000 new census taker jobs will show up Friday. So watch the numbers closely. A jolt from census takers doesn't mean businesses are bringing people back to work. Still, a paycheck is a paycheck. So census hiring should help the economy somewhat. |
| Posted by:Fred |