Employment increase only a fraction of the number expected, however construction employment saw smallest decline in three years. 

Nonfarm private employment increased 13,000 from May to June 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report®. The estimated change in employment from April to May 2010 was revised up slightly, from the previously reported increase of 55,000 to an increase of 57,000. Wall Street was expecting a gain approaching 60,000. 

June’s rise in private employment was the fifth consecutive monthly gain. However, over these five months the increases have averaged a modest 34,000. Recent ADP Report data suggest that, following steady improvement through April, private employment may have decelerated heading into the summer. The slow pace of improvement from February through June is consistent with other publicly available data, including a pause in the decline of initial unemployment claims that occurred during the winter months. 

In June, construction employment dropped 35,000. This was the smallest decline since July, 2008. This drop marks 3 years of monthly decline, and brings the total decline in construction jobs since the peak in January 2007 to 2,226,000. Meanwhile The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that construction spending during May 2010 ($841.9 billion)  fell just 0.2 percent (far less than expected) below the revised April estimate of $843.3 billion. The May figure is 8.0 percent below the May 2009 estimate of $915.4 billion. This estimate is good news to builders evertwhere.

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