Employment-jobs-inflation
AT&T hiring manager Cathy Zavala (R) talks to Jose Blackman, 38, who was laid off last year and is looking for a job to support his two children, in Los Angeles, California in this April 9, 2014 file photo. U.S. private payrolls recorded their largest gain in 1-1/2 years in June as businesses stepped up hiring, reinforcing views the economy has rebounded from its first-quarter slump. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/Files

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- U.S. companies hired 218,000 workers in July, below what analysts projected and the level set the previous month, a report by a payrolls processor released on Wednesday showed.

Private job gains in June were 281,000, which was the strongest reading since November 2012. Economists surveyed by Reuters, however, had forecast that the ADPNational Employment Report would show a gain of 230,000 jobs.

The report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics.

California Inflation