ANKARA
The number of new jobs in the private sector in the U.S. was lower than expected in April, according to the ADP National Employment report released Wednesday.
The weak report on new jobs in the U.S. pressured the dollar lower against other major currencies; the U.S. dollar dropped to about 1.128 against the euro after the report was released. The British pound traded at $1.5225 from $1.5170 on Tuesday. The Turkish lira held at about 2.70 against the U.S. currency.
The number of jobs in non-farm private sector employment rose by 169,000, while the consensus estimate had been 205,000.
The weak report prompted investors to worry that U.S. economic growth will be much lower than expected. Stock futures reversed direction and headed lower after the report, an indication of investor pessimism.
The ADP report has been lower each month since November 2014.
"The ADP figure is seen as a prelude to the official nonfarm-payrolls data due from the Labor Department on Friday; should that report also be below estimates, the indication for growth will be serious," said analysts at Accendo Markets in a note published on Wednesday.
The Federal Reserve has said it will consider data on the U.S. economy in its evaluation of any interest rate hike.
The ADP National Employment Report is produced by ADP(R), a global provider of Human Capital Management solutions, with Moody's Analytics.
