by Calculated Risk on 5/02/2012 08:18:00 AM

ADP reports:

Employment in the U.S. nonfarm private business sector increased by 119,000 from March to April on a seasonally adjusted basis. The estimated gain from February to March was revised down modestly, from the initial estimate of 209,000 to a revised estimate of 201,000.

Employment in the private, service-providing sector increased 123,000 in April, after rising 158,000 in March. Employment in the private, goods-producing sector declined 4,000 jobs in April. Manufacturing employment dropped 5,000 jobs, the first loss since September of last year.

This was significantly below the consensus forecast of an increase of 178,000 private sector jobs in April. The BLS reports on Friday, and the consensus is for an increase of 165,000 payroll jobs in April, on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis.

Note: ADP hasn't been very useful in predicting the BLS report, but this suggests a weaker than consensus report.