ADP performs payroll services for companies around the country and tracks employment from month to month. 

In July, ADP found an increase of 163,000 jobs in July, well above the initial prediction of 120,000, according to Bloomberg. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release employment data on Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict that the unemployment rate will remain at 8.2 percent.

Small businesses, those with one to 49 employees, added 73,000 jobs, more than medium-sized and large businesses. The majority of new jobs, 148,000 were in the service providing sector.

The country has seen 13 consecutive months of job growth and has added 4 million jobs, according to a release from ADP.

“This gain in private employment is strong enough to suggest that the national unemployment rate may have declined in July,” said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, in a release. “Today’s estimate from ADP, if re-enforced by a similar reading on employment from the BLS on Friday, will alleviate 
concerns that the economy has slipped into a downturn.”