ADP: Private Sector Jobs Up, But Short Of November Forecasts

Jobs in the private sector across all industries went up by a lower-than-expected 307,000 last month, missing forecasts of 410,000 by economists and below October’s 404,000, according to the monthly ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday (Dec. 2).

“While November saw employment gains, the pace continues to slow,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Job growth remained positive across all industries and sizes.”

The leisure and hospitality sector — the hardest-hit by the worldwide pandemic — added 95,000 jobs. Small businesses with one to 19 people on staff added 60,000 positions, which drove the increases in the leisure and hospitality sector.

Jobs in construction went up by 22,000 and manufacturing added 8,000 positions. There were also job gains in the finance industry, professional services, education and healthcare. However, the information sector stayed flat.

The recovery of the labor market has been hampered by new restrictions due to a second wave of COVID-19 infections. There were over four million new cases in November — more than double the 1.9 million cases in October — and over 35,000 deaths, the highest levels since April and May, according to a New York Times report. On average, more than 170,000 people daily are testing positive for COVID-19.

The monthly ADP National Employment Report is a collaboration between ADP Research Institute and Moody Analytics. It is derived by analyzing non-farm private employment using ADP payroll data from 460,000 U.S. companies with some 26 million workers.

September employment reports prior to the new wave of infections showed the addition of 749,000 private-sector jobs. But as the coronavirus started spiking again, so did new U.S. jobless claims.

Meanwhile, a new study last month indicated that surging infections and new restrictions could lead to the permanent closure of one-third of U.S. restaurants.

Last week, more than 125 economists signed a letter to U.S. lawmakers pleading for new stimulus funds and calling the situation urgent. The economists emphasized how the pandemic has been especially hard on women and low-wage workers.