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Companies in U.S. Add Most Jobs in Seven Months, ADP Data Show

Companies in U.S. Add Most Jobs in Seven Months, ADP Data Show

Companies in U.S. Add Most Jobs in Seven Months, ADP Data Show
A man carries a briefcase while walking down Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- American businesses added the most workers in seven months in September, a sign hiring is holding up in a tight job market, according to data released Wednesday by the ADP Research Institute.

Highlights of ADP Employment (September)

  • Private payrolls increased by 230k (est. 184k) after an upwardly revised 168k Aug. advance (prev. 163k)
  • Payrolls in goods-producing industries, which include manufacturing and construction, climbed 46k, most since March, after 23k 
  • Service providers added 184k to payrolls, most since Jan., after 145k

Key Takeaways

The data, ahead of the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report Friday, suggest hiring remains resilient despite the constraint of a limited pool of workers to fill positions. Demand for workers was most intense in construction as well as administrative and support services and health care and social assistance, ADP’s report showed.

Employment gains point to the economic expansion continuing through year-end as more paychecks fuel consumer spending, the largest component of the economy, while helping to ease the impact of the intensifying trade war with China. At the same time, the smallest gain in manufacturing jobs in more than a year comes amid headwinds from the tariffs.

Economist’s View

“The job market continues to power forward,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc., said in a statement. Moody’s produces the figures with ADP. “Employment gains are broad-based across industries and company sizes. At the current pace of job creation, unemployment will fall” into the low 3-percent range by this time next year, he said.

Other Details

  • Hiring in construction rose by 34,000, matching biggest gain in 2018; manufacturing added 7,000, least since July 2017
  • Professional and business services boosted employment by 70,000; within that, administrative and support services added 38,000
  • Employment in trade, transportation and utilities grew by 30,000; leisure and hospitality up 16,000, financial activities rose 16,000
  • Natural resources and mining advanced by 5,000
  • Companies employing 500 or more workers increased staffing by 75,000; payrolls for medium-sized companies, or those employing 50 to 499 workers, rose by 99,000 workers; and small companies added 56,000

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Foster in Washington at sfoster94@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Jeff Kearns, Scott Lanman

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.