Report: U.S. companies added 91,000 workers in August

Companies in the U.S. added 91,000 workers to payrolls in August, according to data from ADP Employer Services. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for an advance of 100,000.

Over the previous six reports, ADP’s initial figure was closest to the Labor Department’s first estimate of private payrolls in February, when it understated the gain in jobs by 5,000. The estimate was least accurate in June, when it overestimated the increase in employment by 100,000.

Last month, ADP’s figures showed a 114,000 gain in company payrolls for July, while the Labor Department’s data showed a 154,000 increase.

Another report today showed employers in August announced more job cuts than a year earlier. Planned firings climbed 47 percent from August 2010 to 51,114, according to figures released today by Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Job-cut announcements were led by the government and financial and retail industries.