With Wall Street braced for the worst, the U.S. Labor Department had good news this morning. The U.S. economy added 117,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 percent.

Coming the day after the Dow plunged more than 500 points, the better-than-expected jobs numbers offered some relief from the last two weeks of pessimistic reports about the economy. Stocks opened higher.

Estimates ahead of the report pegged job growth at around 90,000 during July, though some economists said the number could be as low as 55,000. The unemployment rate, which ticked up in June to 9.2 percent, was expected to be unchanged. ADP’s National Employment Report Wednesday, which is not often in sync with the government report, said 114,000 private sector jobs were added in July. The BLS put that number at a 154,000. Government job losses offset the private sector gains.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles and maintains labor data for the U.S., also revised upwards jobs numbers for May by 53,000 and June by 46,000.

Payroll processor ADP says 114,000 private sector jobs were created in July, a number inline, if on the high side, with what economists expected.

All but 9,000 of the jobs were created by small and mid-size businesses employing up to 499 workers. The gain came in the service sector, which added 121,000 jobs during the month, according to ADP and its forecasting partner, Macroeconomic Advisers. The goods-producing sector lost 7,000 jobs, with manufacturing alone shedding 1,00o. Construction was down by 11,000, the third consecutive monthly decline.

Widely watched for clues as to what the U.S. Labor Department’s monthly employment report (out on the Friday after the ADP release) is likely to show, the ADP National Employment Report is often far off the official numbers.

In June, ADP estimated private sector job creation at 157,000, revised down to 145,000 in today’s release. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics put the private sector number at 57,000. For May, ADP said 73,000 jobs were created; the BLS said 36,000. In April, ADP said 179,000 jobs were added; the BLS said 241,00.