Wall Street Journal (05/06/15) Kathleen Madigan

Private-sector payrolls in April rose by 169,000 jobs, according to Automatic Data Processing Inc. and Moody’s Analytics. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast an increase of 205,000 new jobs. Meanwhile, the March ADP increase was revised down to 175,000 from 189,000, a number that had been below expectations. ADP said the decline in oil prices and the value of the dollar “are weighing on job creation.”

Small businesses continue to support job growth. Companies employing between one and 49 employees hired 94,000 new workers. Medium-sized businesses with payrolls of 50 to 499 employees added 70,000 workers. Large firms with 500 or more employees, which employ nearly half of the U.S. workforce, added 5,000 workers.

The manufacturing sector cut 10,000 jobs, ADP said. The service sector added 170,000 jobs, and the construction sector added 23,000 jobs.