Private Sector Hiring Slows Again

Disappointing economic news Wednesday as private sector hiring is the slowest in seven months while new factory orders suffer their biggest decline in three years. The ADP National Employment Report showed the private sector added only 119 thousand jobs last month, way below expectations while the March figure was revised downward as well. Economists are calling the report upsetting, leaving the strength of the U S economy in question by some analysts. In China, factory activity also contracted in April, though at a slower rate. The Commerce Department reported orders for manufactured goods dropped 1.5 percent. On the housing front, applications for home mortgages rose for a second week in a row but demand for refinancing slipped as interest rates moved higher.