Hopeful Sign in Labor Market as Pace of Job Losses Slows

The economy continues to lose jobs at a rapid pace, but payroll figures released Wednesday show signs that the labor market is improving.

Private employers cut 491,000 jobs in April, according to a report from payroll company Automatic Data Processing Inc. and forecasting firm Macroeconomic Advisers, compared with a steeper cut of 708,000 jobs in March. With government jobs continuing to expand, the report suggests that Friday’s government payroll report will show a loss of 483,000 jobs, far fewer than March’s 663,000 jobs lost.

“Before things get better, they have to get bad by less,” said Macroeconomic Advisers economist Ben Herzon. “If this is right, it suggests the labor market has reached an inflection point.”

Economists had projected that Friday’s report would show a decline of 610,000. But following the ADP report, which is based on a sample derived from roughly 24 million employees, some economists upgraded their estimates.

Source: Wall Street Journal