The U.S. private sector cut 254,000 jobs in September, payroll firm ADP said on Wednesday in a survey. Though still significant, the figure was the smallest number of job losses in more than a year for nonfarm private employment but higher than the 200,000 expected by most analysts. The ADP survey revised the job losses in August by 21,000, from a decline of 298,000 to a decline of 277,000 and the July figure by 11,000 from a decline of 371,000 to a decline of 360,000. September's employment decline was the smallest since July of 2008 and employment losses have slowed significantly over the last two quarters, ADP said in a statement. “Nevertheless, employment, which usually trails overall economic activity, is likely to decline for at least several more months, with losses continuing to diminish,” it said. The ADP report came ahead of Friday's monthly report on the U.S. job market, which is expected to show a loss of another 180,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rising from the current 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent. September's ADP report estimates nonfarm private employment in the service-providing sector fell by 103,000 while that in the goods-producing sector by 151,000 and the manufacturing sector by 74,000. Large businesses saw employment decline by 61,000, while medium-size businesses declined 93,000 and employment among small-size businesses declined by 100,000, it said. Employment losses among small businesses have diminished in each of the last six months.
