The unexpectedly gloomy job figures from ADP lowered the stock indexes on Wall Street in futures trading ahead of Wednesday's stock market opening.
The decline in jobs in the private sector in June can be compared to May, when 29,000 new jobs were created in the sector according to revised figures from ADP. And the average forecast among analysts indicated that 98,000 new jobs would be created in June, according to the news agency Bloomberg's compilation of forecasts.
So far, it's not about any wave of layoffs in the USA, but about employers hesitating to fill gaps that arise when employees leave their jobs, writes ADP's chief economist Nela Richardson in a press release.
The ADP figures show that it is mainly about fewer jobs in the service sector, healthcare and education. The financial sector also lost jobs, according to ADP. But in the manufacturing industry, it pointed upwards when it comes to jobs in June.
The ADP report comes as usual ahead of the major monthly employment report for the USA from the labor market department, which will be presented on Thursday.
Thursday's report is expected to show that 110,000 new jobs were created outside the agricultural sector in the USA in June and that unemployment rose to 4.3 percent, from 4.2 percent in May, according to Bloomberg.