The employment report prepared by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and Moody's Analytics showed on Wednesday the U.S. private employers added 428,000 jobs in August.

Economists had expected an increase of 950,000.

The July number saw an upward revision to 212,000 from the originally reported 167,000.

“The August job postings demonstrate a slow recovery,” noted Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Job gains are minimal, and businesses across all sizes and sectors have yet to come close to their pre-COVID-19 employment levels.”