Manufacturers added 25,000 jobs in April, according to a report issued by ADP.  The Labor Department’s employment numbers will be released on Friday, and the ADP numbers are closely examined to gauge where the official figures will be. 

Overall, the economy added 179,000 net new jobs in April, which was below the consensus estimate of 200,000 that many economists had predicted.  The goods-producing sector as a whole added 41,000 new jobs, with 26,000 of those stemming from medium-sized firms with between 50 and 499 employees.  Small goods-producing payrolls with less than 50 employees generated 14,000 new jobs.

For manufacturing, this was the seventh consecutive month of positive gains in employment, mirroring other economic indicators.  But, it also represented a slight fall-off from March, which experienced a net gain of 35,000 new jobs. 

Overall, this report lends further support for continued growth in the manufacturing sector, albeit with some relative cooling off in April.  We would expect a similar trend with Friday’s BLS report.