That’s still less than the 100,000 economists were expecting, and it’s about a third of what the U.S. needs each month to bring down the unemployment rate. The company, and Macroeconomic Advisers, its partner in the monthly report, also adjusted downward its July estimate to 109,000 from the original 114,000.

In ever-so-cautious language, the report says that the slow job growth in August is “at a pace below what would be consistent with a stable unemployment rate.” That means that should the trend continue, unemployment may rise.

Economists expect that when the official employment numbers are released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor, they’ll show the 9.1 percent unemployment rate unchanged. New jobs are expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000 (Bloomberg News) to 80,000 (Dow Jones Newswires).

Meanwhile, The Conference Board this morning said new online job ads in August fell for the third consecutive month, dropping by 164,000. After rising sharply in the first quarter of the year, job listings have mostly been declining and now are only 308,000 ahead of the end of 2010.

“The Supply/Demand rate stands at 3.35, indicating there were just over three unemployed for every online advertised vacancy in July, the latest monthly data available for unemployment,” The Conference Board said in releasing the job ad numbers.

Monday, The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index showed a big drop in August, as consumers expressed pessimism over economic conditions and said he expected fewer jobs in the months ahead.

This morning, however, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas had some good news in its monthly jobs cut report. Announced layoffs, which have been growing, declined in August. The firm said “employers announced plans to trim 51,114 workers from the payrolls in August, a 23-percent decline from July, when the number of job cuts hit a 16-month high of 66,414.”

So far this year, employer announcements total 363,334 job cuts, only 2.9 percent fewer than at the same point last year, said the company. Government and cuts in the non-profit sector accounted for 105,000 of those lost jobs, with retail, aerospace, pharma, and financial industries accounting for another 110,000.

The ADP report said the majority of the job gains in August came from small business. Employers with under 50 workers added 58,000 jobs. The biggest employers, those with more than 500 employees, added a mere 3,000 jobs.

The service sector added 80,000 jobs, while goods producers accounted for the 11,000 others. Manufacturing lost 4,000 jobs during August.

Manpower Inc. releases the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the next quarter. Polling nearly 64,000 employers in 39 countries and territories, the survey is conducted using a validated methodology in accordance with the highest standards in market research. In the U.S., the survey is conducted by an independent, third-party research firm and includes a select sample of more than 18,000 U.S. employers. This sample represents the top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas based on business establishment count and all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

From its survey, Manpower learned:

• There is positive outlook in every state. Employers in all 50 states report positive hiring intentions and 33 out of 50 states anticipate considerable increases. Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. employers also report positive hiring intentions.
• All industries are looking to hire. Employers in the thirteen industry sectors surveyed each report a positive outlook, with Mining and Leisure & Hospitality employers the most optimistic. Employers in 10 of the 13 industry sectors expect hiring to increase from three months ago.
• We have had six straight quarters of employment growth. Employers have reported a positive overall hiring outlook since Quarter 1 2010, according to seasonally adjusted data.
• Fewer employers plan to decrease headcounts. 6% of employers plan to reduce employee levels in Quarter 2 2011, down from recessionary highs of 14% in 2009.

Of the more than 18,000 employers surveyed, 16% anticipate an increase in staff levels in their Quarter 2 2011 hiring plans, while 6% expect a decrease in payrolls, resulting in a Net Employment Outlook of +10%. When seasonally adjusted, the Net Employment Outlook becomes +8%. 74% of employers expect no change in their hiring plans. The final 4% of employers indicate they are undecided about their hiring intentions.

Employers in all four U.S. geographic regions surveyed report a seasonally adjusted outlook of +8%. The hiring outlook in the West is the strongest for the region since Quarter 4 2008. Compared to one year ago, a slight increase in employment prospects is expected in the Midwest, South, and West, while the Northeast is steady. Quarter over quarter, employers in the Northeast, South, and West report relatively stable hiring conditions, while employers in the Midwest expect a slight dip in employment plans.

“Nearly all of the of the key data points in our survey show that employers are positive, but hiring plans are still reserved due to their continued ability to manage the slowly increasing demand with the existing workforce,” said Jonas Prising, Manpower president of the Americas.  “In the U.S., we are holding on to hard-won job gains and waiting for the time when the growth in demand for goods and services will require more substantial workforce additions.”

Results from the thirteen industry sectors surveyed indicate an overall positive outlook for Quarter 2 2011:

• Leisure & Hospitality: +21%
• Mining: +21%
• Professional & Business Services: +15%
• Durable Goods Manufacturing: +14%
• Wholesale & Retail Trade: +12%
• Nondurable Goods Manufacturing: +11%
• Financial Activities: +9%
• Information: +9%
• Transportation & Utilities: +8%
• Other Services: +7%
• Construction: +6%
• Education & Health Services: +6%
• Government: +1%

You can view the full survey results here. The next Manpower Employment Outlook Survey will be released on June 14, 2011, to report hiring expectations for Quarter 3 2011.

This 11% underemployment rate is the highest it’s been in 14 years, the report shows.