Private sector employment cooled unexpectedly in June, payroll firm ADP said Wednesday, with job creation slowing for a third month.
Job gains came in at 150,000, below the Briefing.com consensus estimate of 163,000 and down from May’s revised 157,000 figure, said the report.
Policymakers have been looking to a cooler labor market — alongside lower inflation — as they mull the right time to begin interest rate cuts.
The current trend, if it persists, could fuel optimism that the first rate reductions may start sooner rather than later — after the Federal Reserve held rates at the highest level in more than two decades in recent months.
Besides ADP’s report, government figures released Wednesday also showed that jobless claims rose to 238,000 in the week ending June 29.
Meanwhile, the four-week average in jobless claims rose to its highest since end-August, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics.
This week, markets are also …