ADP Report Creates Worry of Revisions

The latest ADP employment report, which showed that the private sector shed more than 500,000 jobs in May, was made worse by revisions to April's numbers, raising concern that the government's own report, due on Friday, may see similar revisions.

Automatic Data Processing (ADP Quote), or ADP, said its employment index showed that 532,000 jobs were shed by the U.S. private sector last month, slightly worse than the consensus for a loss of 525,000. ADP's April numbers were revised lower by 54,000 to a decline of 545,000.

The two-month average is now a loss of 539,000, compared to the February and March average of a 641,000 drop. Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics, called this statistic a "significant improvement ... and if replicated in the official numbers it would signal that the worst of the drop in payrolls is over." ...