- AIG, Ex-CEO Greenberg Reach Pact to Settle Disputes
- Bank of America CEO Search May Extend Into 2010
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates Health Care System: Critics
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- For Many in US, It Will Be a Scaled-Down Holiday Season
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Jobless Claims Below 500,000, Durable Orders Slip
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
MOST SHARED
- Garlic Price Rises Surpass Gold, Stocks in China
- New-Home Sales Jump 6.2% To Highest Level in Over Year
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- US Plans to Reduce Emissions By 17% Within Next Ten Years
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- The Executive Job Search
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
Text Size 
Two surveys out Wednesday painted a lackluster picture of the employment market ahead of the government's monthly jobs report, which is due out on Friday.
U.S. private employers likely added 38,000 jobs in August, a report by a private employment service said on Wednesday. The result was down from the 48,000 jobs reported one month ago for July by ADP, whose employment report was jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a result of 83,000 for August.
The ADP result comes after a separate survey showed planned U.S. lay-offs rocketed in August as the housing slowdown and subprime mortgage debacle led to record job cuts in the financial sector.
Announced lay-offs surged 85 percent to 79,459 in August from 42,897 in July, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment consulting firm. August's job cuts were the highest since February, when they totaled 84,014.
"Nearly half of the August cuts came from the financial sector, as dozens of mortgage and subprime lenders caved under the pressure of a sinking housing market,'' Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a statement.
Financial job cuts totaled 35,752 in August, the highest monthly total for the industry since Challenger, Gray & Christmas began tracking in 1993, the firm said.
August's job cuts rose 22 percent from the previous August, when 65,278 cuts were announced.
Rapidly rising defaults on mortgages made to riskier borrowers prompted credit markets around the world to seize up in late July and into August. That essentially severed the credit lines to a number of mortgage finance companies, cutting off their ability to fund loans made to U.S. homebuyers.
One of the most spectacular collapses occurred when Melville, New York-based American Home Mortgage Investment, which had been the No. 10 U.S. mortgage lender, filed for bankruptcy in early August and fired nearly all of its work force.
Print
Email
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
- Eric Schmidt pledges to create a virtual copy of the Iraq National Museum at Google’s expense.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- More shoppers than ever plan to comparison-shop this season. Who will benefit?
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Follow these ten steps.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes