Private Sector Adds More Jobs Than Expected in April Despite Signs of Slowdown and Higher Interest Rates

(updated with details)

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. private sector added more jobs than expected in April, ADP’s monthly survey showed on Wednesday, but there are signs the job market is slowing in an environment of higher interest rates.

The survey reported 296,000 additional jobs last month, while economists polled by Reuters forecast an average of 148,000.

The March figure has been revised to 142,000, from the 145,000 originally announced.

This publication comes as the Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to raise its main interest rate by an additional 25 basis points on Wednesday, before possibly pausing its fastest monetary tightening campaign since the 1980s.

The latest “Jolts” investigation by the Department of Labor has also

shown tuesday

that job openings in the United States fell for the third consecutive month in March, as rising rates slowed demand for labour.

The impasse in which the US government finds itself regarding the raising of the debt ceiling also poses a significant risk to the economy and, consequently, to the labor market.

(Lucia Mutikani, French version Laetitia Volga and Lucia Mutikani, edited by Nicolas Delame)