US private payrolls rise the least since January

Employers in the US private sector have added 122,000 jobs in July, data by Automatic Data Processing showed on Wednesday.

This has been the slowest employment growth since January and it fell short of market expectations of 150,000.

In July, the service-providing sector added 85,000 job positions, as follows:

– trade, transportation and utilities – 61,000 jobs;
– leisure/hospitality – 24,000 jobs;
– education/health services – 22,000 jobs;
– financial services – 14,000 jobs.

Job losses were observed in professional/business services (-37,000) and in information (-18,000), ADP said.

In the meantime, the goods-producing sector created 37,000 job positions in July, as construction added 39,000 jobs and natural resources/mining added 2,000 jobs, while manufacturing cut 4,000 jobs.

The US Dollar Index, which reflects the relative strength of the US Dollar against a basket of six other major currencies, was edging down 0.38% to 104.059 on Wednesday.