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Today's ADP National Employment Report showed a moderate gain of 119,000 jobs from March to April on a seasonally adjusted basis.  This figure missed the mark by almost 60,000; consensus expectations were for 178k.  Oddly enough, the figures (and disappointment) were almost an exact repeat of last month's BLS results.

What concerns me is that March's ADP employment results exceeded expectations (209k reported vs. 205k expect.).  But as stated, the BLS results were a huge disappointment.  Historically, ADP's results have been more optimistic (on average) than the BLS.

If the ADP/BLS relationship holds, should we expect an even worse report from BLS on Friday or is this an anomaly? 

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has been in business for over 60 years and serves approximately 570,000 clients.  In the US, they are the largest provider of payroll services.  The ADP report is derived from an anonymous subset of roughly 500,000 U.S. business clients. During 2011, this subset represented over 21 million U.S. employees working in all private industrial sectors.  That gives them quite a broad reach over the U.S. labor market.

I know many of you have your opinion about the accuracy and depth of both sources; which do you think gives investors the most accurate picture of jobs here in the U.S.? 

It is important to note that both sources have been reflecting a decline in the amount of jobs added since January.  Perhaps the more appropriate question is whether this bearish trend developing in jobs is going to accelerate (June and July were bad months for the BLS in 2011) or turn around?

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