Hiring slows in April

Private-sector employers slowed hiring again in April, adding a disappointing 169,000 jobs as the decline in oil prices and the dollar’s strength weigh on the labor market.

{mosads}Employers added fewer than 200,000 jobs for the second straight month and the fewest since January 2014, according to the ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday.

“Fallout from the collapse of oil prices and the surging value of the dollar are weighing on job creation,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.

“However, this should prove temporary and job growth will reaccelerate this summer,” he said.

The economy needs to add upward of 125,000 jobs a month to lower the unemployment rate and push up wage growth, Zandi said.

March produced 14,000 fewer jobs — 175,000 — than initially estimated, the report showed.

Even at a slower-than-expected pace, the job market is expected to reach full employment by the end of 2016.

If predictions remain on target, Zandi estimates that could happen by next summer.

Either way, the labor market is tightening, and that is good news for wages, which Zandi predicts should keep accelerating to a 3 percent annual growth rate by next year.

A rise in wages also would bolster consumer confidence and lead to a pick up in spending, which represents 70 percent of economic activity.

Zandi said the drop in oil prices and surge in the dollar could cost the economy a combined 500,000 jobs — about 250,000 in each area.

But those losses, which he called “very significant” for some parts of the country where energy is a main driver of the local economy, should ease by the late summer or early fall.

In recent months, jobs growth has shifted to small businesses, those with 49 or fewer employees, which added the bulk of the positions last month — 94,000, down from 105,000 in March.

Meanwhile, the largest companies, those with 500-999 employees, added no jobs, after adding only 2,000 in March.

Companies with more than 1,000 employees added 5,000 jobs, a small improvement from 4,000 the previous month.