S. private-sector employers hired in April at the slowest pace in more than a year, a survey found Wednesday, as the strong U.S. dollar hurt overseas sales and energy companies cut spending amid lower oil prices. Payroll processor ADP said companies added only 169,000 jobs in April, down from 175,000 the previous month. It was the fewest jobs created since January 2014 and was well below the 200,000 expected by economists. The weak performance could raise concerns the economy is entering a period of weak growth after expanding at a healthy pace for most of 2014. A big increase in the trade deficit, reported Tuesday, means the economy likely shrank in the first quarter. A slowing economy likely would affect job gains. According to government data that includes both public and private hiring, employers added 126,000 jobs in March, the fewest in 15 months. The ADP report comes ahead of Friday's government job-creation report for April, which is expected to show a rebound to 220,000. The unemployment rate is expected to decline to 5.4 percent from 5.5 percent.
