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The Fed cares a lot about jobs data — but it may be getting mixed signals
According to private payroll processor ADP, US employers hired 455,000 new workers in June. Meanwhile, in its monthly tally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said 105,000 new workers were hired. But for August, the two arrived at similar estimates — ADP reported on Wednesday that 177,000 new workers were added last month, and on Friday the BLS reported 187,000 new hires. It’s not uncommon for ADP and the BLS to arrive at quite different answers. At the same time, it’s not unusual for them to be similar. But they almost never arrive at the same exact number. This begs the question: How many workers were really ... (full story)