Companies added 218,000 workers in July, exceeding the average for the year and showing improving demand is bolstering the U.S. job market, a private payrolls report showed today. The gain this month followed a 281,000 increase in June that was the strongest since November 2012, according to data from the ADP Research Institute in Roseland, New Jersey. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 230,000 advance in July. Businesses are limiting dismissals and taking on more workers, spurring consumer confidence and laying the groundwork for a pickup in household spending that accounts for ... (full story)