According to data from payroll services provider ADP Employer services, US companies cut 39,000 jobs in August. The median estimate of 37 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a gain of 20,000. Forecasts ranged from a decline of 44,000 to a 75,000 increase.
“Although labor conditions remain weak, we anticipate further improvement taking hold in the coming months as conditions gradually improve,” Maxwell Clarke, chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal in New York, said before the report.
Source: Bloomberg
Citing Ireland’s rising debt and persistent weak economy, rating agency Fitch reduced the country’s rating by one level to A+. Other rating agencies have recently imposed similar credit rating adjustments.
Source: The Associated Press
The monthly ADP Employer Services survey shows that US employment fell by 10,000 during the month of August, the first monthly job loss since January. This flies in the face of a survey of economists that forecast a gain of 15,000 jobs.
“The labor market is really in peril as businesses are just being very cautious,” said David Semmens, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York, the only economist surveyed to accurately forecast the loss in private jobs. Today’s figures “will drag down expectations for the Friday payrolls report. The stability surrounding the recovery is declining.”
Source: Bloomberg
