The private sector added 156,000 jobs in July, more than the 150,000 economists expected and an improvement from the June figures which were revised slightly higher, according to a closely watched report by ADP and Moody's Analytics.
Why it matters: The ADP report is seen as an indicator of what could come from the government's official jobs release on Friday. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics noted in a call with reporters that job growth in the private sector remains healthy, but is "throttling back" from the outsized job gains we've seen in previous months — particularly among small businesses.