ADP: U.S. private sector added 104,000 jobs in July

July 30 (UPI) — Private sector employment leapt forward in the United States in July while pay gains held steady, according to a report by private payroll processor ADP on Wednesday.

Private sector employment increased by 104,000 jobs in July, a reversal of June when jobs were at a 23,000 loss, a count revised from a previously announced loss of 33,000. Pay rose 4.4 % year-over-year overall, in line with past months, according to the labor market and employee performance research company’s National Employment Report.

“Our hiring and pay data are broadly indicative of a healthy economy,” said ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson in a press release. “Employers have grown more optimistic that consumers, the backbone of the economy, will remain resilient.”

The reported numbers are a measure of the labor market, based on the weekly payroll data of more than 25 million American private sector employees, approximately 14.8 million monthly individual pay-change observations.

However, among service-providing industries, not every line of work saw an upward bump as the education and health services field lost 38,000 jobs. The leisure and hospitality sectors saw the strongest influx, increasing by 46,000 jobs, followed by financial activities at 28,000.

In the goods-production industry, no sector went down, with construction at the top at 15,000.

Regionally, the U.S. Northeast was the only section of the country where jobs went down, losing 18,000, 13,000 of which were lost in the New England area. Meanwhile, the American West widely outpaced all other regions by adding 75,000 jobs, besting the second-place South by 32,000.

As for earnings, that 4.4% rise is attributed to those who stayed in their jobs, while those who changed their place of work saw a 7% increase. The financial activities sector saw the largest pay swell of the service-providing industries at 5.1%, while manufacturing slightly topped the goods-production industry with a 4.6% increase, just .1% higher than the runner-up construction field.