A survey of private companies by payroll provider ADP on Wednesday signaled a slowdown in hiring two days before the government issues the April jobs report. Yet ADP's report is causing few economists to scale back their forecasts for Friday.

The key reason is that the two surveys tend to diverge. And most economists say the government's figures tend to be more reliable.

ADP derives its numbers from payroll data it processes for about 344,000 U.S. companies. The Labor Department compiles its numbers by surveying 140,000 employers — both private companies and government agencies.

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The table below compares ADP's calculation of jobs added by private companies for each month in the past year with the Labor Department's corresponding figures.

Month ADP Labor Dept. (private)
April 2011 162,000 264,000
May 47,000 108,000
June 136,000 102,000
July 125,000 175,000
August 67,000 52,000
September 105,000 216,000
October 142,000 139,000
November 226,000 178,000
December 267,000 234,000
January 182,000 277,000
February 228,000 233,000
March 201,000 121,000
April 119,000 ?
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