Latest data further muddy economic outlook The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index declined to 52.1, reflecting the struggle the economy has had gaining momentum following a surprising burst of growth early this year. The mixed signals added another dollop of confusion to an economy that has been whipsawed by false starts and crippled by fiscal turmoil in Europe and political paralysis in Washington as it has struggled to recover from the recession. After a strong winter, job growth has slowed to a crawl, with the nation's payrolls growing by only 69,000 jobs in May, marking the second consecutive month of tepid employment growth. The nation's jobless rate stands at 8.2 percent, and analysts are divided about the pace of job growth that will be reflected when the Labor Department releases its June jobs report Friday. ADP Employer Services said Thursday that companies added 176,000 jobs in June, which would indicate a healthy rebound in job creation. The ADP report, which is based on data received from businesses with a total of more than 21 million workers, was more upbeat than the median forecast of economists by Bloomberg News, which was that the nation's payrolls grew by 100,000 jobs in June. "Today's estimate, if reinforced by a comparable reading on employment from the Bureau of Labor Statistics [on Friday], likely will ease concerns that the economy is heading into a downturn," said Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, which collaborates with Automatic Data Processing Inc. on the ADP report. There seems to be little doubt that recent economic gains have been restrained by heightened uncertainty over the European financial crisis and by growing concern about domestic fiscal policy. Other analysts were more circumspect. Chris Lawson, chief executive of the Eli Daniel Group, a Dallas-based staffing firm, said the jobs picture remains muddled. "We're getting into this wait-and-see trap," he said, adding that some employers are worried about what is going to happen in the presidential election, which will determine how the health-care law plays out. "Small businesses are thinking about the new health-care landscape," Lawson added. "They ask themselves, "Am I going to add staff or wait and see what shakes out with this election? On the data, there seems to be more negative news than positive. My guess is we'll see unemployment remaining the same, or that number could go up a bit. I don't see us all of a sudden starting to turn the corner.