US: Private sector employment rises 324,000 in July vs. 189,000 expected

• Employment in the US private sector rose sharply again in July.
• June’s surge was revised modestly lower to 455,000.
• US Dollar Index claims to fresh daily highs above 102.30. 

Private sector employment in the US rose by 324,000 in July, the data published by Automatic Data Processing (ADP) showed on Wednesday. This reading surpassed the market expectation for an increase of 189,000. June's figure was revised lower from 497,000 (the highest since February 2022) to 455,000. 

“The economy is doing better than expected and a healthy labor market continues to support household spending,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “We continue to see a slowdown in pay growth without broad-based job loss.”

The report added that “annual pay was up 6.2 percent year-over-year”. “Job stayers saw a year-over-year pay increase of 6.2 percent, the slowest pace of gains since November 2021. For job changers, pay growth slowed to 10.2 percent”, the ADP further noted in its publication.

More employment data is due on Thursday, including the weekly Jobless Claims and Q2 Unit Labor Cost, and on Friday with the release of Nonfarm payrolls.

Market reaction: 

The US Dollar Index rose to fresh daily highs following the data toward 102.40, as US Treasury yields bounce to the upside.