US private sector adds fewer jobs than expected in July

The US private sector added 185,000 jobs in July compared with a downwardly-revised 229,000 in June, payment processor ADP said.

The figures fell short of the 210,000 gain analysts had expected.

Carlos Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of ADP said: "July employment growth was slower than June, but is still in line with what we have seen since the first of the year."

The figures are seen as a pre-cursor to the nonfarm payrolls report which is due on Friday and is expected to show that payrolls rose by 220,000 in July.