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.
Recommended For You
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 | ? |
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
