Economists have been busy making predictions and estimates ahead of the June Employment Situation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. ADP reported that private sector hiring in June had reached levels not seen in nearly two years.
The report showed that employment grew by 281,000 over the month. The last time that level of hiring was reached was in November 2012. For comparison, ADP's release showed a 216,000 job gain in June of 2013.
USA Today reported that ADP's figures exceeded economists' estimates. Consensus said that the payroll processor would find 205,000 new positions filled in June. That raises the possibility that the BLS will reveal stronger than expected numbers for the month. Economists predicted only 218,000 new jobs in the organization's report earlier this week.
There may be even more reason for optimism concerning this month's report from the BLS, which is being released one day early due to the July 4th holiday. Since that report tracks public sector employment in addition to private, figures are generally higher, and even private sector data from the BLS tends to show more growth than ADP's own data. For example, ADP predicted 179,000 private jobs in May, compared to BLS findings of 216,000.