ADP Report on Tap: Tomorrow's Headliners

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Wednesday morning will bring the Automatic Data Processing's (ADP Quote) private-sector employment report for August, a precursor to the government's own jobs report due Friday.

The ADP's employment report, due for release at 8:15 a.m. EDT Wednesday, is expected to show that the private sector lost 246,000 jobs last month. By comparison, the Labor Department's report, due out Friday, is expected to show that the U.S. economy lost 225,000 jobs, according to economists polled by Reuters.

Last month, the ADP report showed a greater-than-expected drop of 371,000 jobs, while the Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls data for July showed a better-than-expected loss of 247,000 jobs, a sign that the ADP report is not always a reliable indicator for the official government figures.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting on interest rates concluded on Aug. 12 will also be in focus. In the accompanying statement, the Federal Open Market Committee said information it collected since June suggests that economic activity is leveling out, although it should remain weak "for a time." The FOMC minutes will be released at 2 p.m. EDT.

Also on Wednesday's economic docket, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will post its revised read on second-quarter productivity at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with economists expecting a downward revision to 6.1% from the previous read of 6.4%. Still, that would be a dramatic improvement from the slim 0.3% increase in the first quarter.

Later, at 10 a.m. EDT, the Census Bureau will release the July read on factory orders, which should climb to 1.5% from 0.4% in June.