Reports indicate job cuts lessening as economy brightens

Two new reports indicate employment losses among private employers are "clearly diminishing" as the nation's nascent economic recovery gains ground. First, data released Wednesday morning from the ADP National Employment Report shows the economy shed 298,000 nonfarm private-sector jobs in August, fewer than in the previous month.

August's decline was the smallest since September a year ago, and recent indications are that overall economic activity is stabilizing, the report said. But as employment usually trails overall economic activity, ADP also expects it is still likely to decline for at least several more months, though at a diminishing rate.