Other data showed the pace of growth in the US services sector was unchanged in April compared with the month before and expanded below the rate forecast by analysts.
The private sector added 32,000 jobs in April, according to a report by payrolls processor ADP Employer Services on Wednesday. Economists had expected a rise of 30,000 jobs, based on a Reuters poll.
But the February and March private sector ADP figures were revised to show gains instead of losses. The last time the private sector registered job gains was in January 2008, according to ADP.
The ADP report comes two days ahead of the more closely watched US government jobs data. Another report on Wednesday showed planned layoffs in April fell to their lowest in nearly four years.
"Private sector employment growth is another encouraging sign the labor market is turning the corner and the last pillar of the recovery looks to be now in place," Zach Pandl, economist at Nomura Securities International in New York.
Job growth is considered key to sustaining the economic recovery.
The government's monthly jobs report, due Friday, is forecast to show nonfarm payrolls increased by 200,000 in April, adding to the prior month's 162,000 gain, according to a Reuters' forecast. The unemployment rate, however, is expected to remain unchanged at 9.7 percent for a fourth month.
Government department recruitment to run the US census, held every ten years, will likely account for the bulk of the payrolls gain in April, with private sector hiring expected to pull back from March's spectacular 123,000 increase.
The Institute for Supply Management said its services index was at 55.4 in April, the same in March but below the 56.0 median forecast of 74 economists surveyed by Reuters. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
The ISM report's employment component fell slightly to 49.5 from 49.8 the prior month.
"It implies the services sector of the economy continues to expand, but at a slow pace," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany, New York.
Other data on Wednesday showed the number of planned layoffs at US firms fell more than 40 percent in April to the lowest level in nearly four years, suggesting employers are more confident about economic conditions.
Employers announced 38,326 planned job cuts last month, the lowest since July 2006 and down from 67,611 planned job cuts in March, according to the report from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data showed demand for loans to buy US homes hit a seven-month high last week.
Home purchase loan applications jumped 13 percent in the week ended April 30 to the highest level since early October, overshadowing a 2.1 percent drop in refinancing demand.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department said Wednesday that it plans to borrow $78 billion in a series of three debt auctions next week, down from a record $81 billion at the last quarterly auction.
It marked the first reduction in the size of the auctions since 2007 and reflected the fact that the government is projecting that total borrowing will fall by 18.3 percent for this budget year after setting an all-time high last year.
The Obama administration has stressed that while the US budget deficit soared to a record high of $1.4 trillion last year, the United States, unlike Greece, has not had trouble financing its huge deficits.
The auctions were part of Treasury's regular quarterly refunding where it raises a large part of the debt it needs to finance the gap between what the government collects in tax revenues and what it spends each year.
For the refunding next week, Treasury said it would auction $38 billion in three-year notes on Tuesday, $24 billion in 10-year notes on Wednesday and $16 billion in 30-year bonds on Thursday.
The size of the three-year note is being cut by $2 billion from the last refunding auction in February and the 10-year note is being cut by $1 billion.
Before this auction, the last time the government was able to reduce the size of one of its debt offerings was May 2007 when it cut the three-year note sale to $14 billion from $16 billion.
Even with next week's reduction, the government's three-year note offering will be more than double its size three years ago, underscoring the surge in Treasury securities that has occurred as the government has had to auction ever larger amounts to cover soaring budget deficits.
On Monday, the Treasury announced that it believed total borrowing for this year would dip to $1.459 trillion, down by 18.3 percent from the record borrowing of $1.786 trillion set in the 2009 budget year.
The Obama administration has not changed its February forecast that the deficit for this budget year will hit $1.56 trillion, surpassing last year's imbalance, although some private forecasters have trimmed their own estimates and believe this year's deficit will come in around last year's $1.4 trillion mark.
The deficit explosion reflects the impact of a deep recession, which cut individual income taxes and corporate taxes, and boosted spending as the government created a $700 billion financial bailout fund and passed in February 2009 a $787 billion economic stimulus measure.
