Private job creation in October reached its highest level in more than a year despite a devastating storm season and massive labor disruptions in the Southeast, ADP reported Wednesday.
The payroll firm said companies added 233,000 new jobs in the month, exceeding the upwardly revised 159,000 in September and well above the Dow Jones forecast of 113,000. ADP said it was the best month since July 2023 in terms of job creation.
“Job growth was strong in October, even in the midst of a hurricane recovery,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “As we close out the year, U.S. employment has proven strong and generally resilient.”
The numbers confirmed expectations that the economy would slow in October due to the effects of two powerful hurricanes, Helen and Milton, that hit the Southeast, particularly in Florida and North Carolina.
In addition to this, labor interference with dock workers, boeing Employment data is also expected to be affected, with some economists predicting October will be an outlier and Fed officials largely ignoring it at next week’s meeting. I would.
But the ADP report shows the labor market is holding up. In addition to the increase in employment, wages also increased by 4.6% from the previous year.
Moreover, the benefits were far-reaching. Key sectors include education and health services (53,000 jobs), trade, transportation and utilities (51,000 jobs), construction, leisure and hospitality, each adding 37,000 jobs, and professional and business services (3 jobs). The number of cases increased by 1,000.
Manufacturing was the only sector to report a loss, down 19,000 jobs from the same month, as Boeing’s strike since Sept. 13 has put 33,000 workers out of work.
Job creation was strongly concentrated in companies with 500 or more employees, with an overall increase of 140,000 jobs. Companies with fewer than 50 employees saw little change, with just 4,000 employees overall.
ADP reports have traditionally focused on relationships with the more closely watched Bureau of Labor Statistics’ nonfarm payrolls. The report, to be released on Friday, predicts the number will increase by just 100,000 people and the unemployment rate will remain stable at 4.1%.
However, ADP and BLS reports can differ significantly, and the latter also includes government employees. Private employment rose by 223,000 people in September, and total employment rose by 254,000, according to the BLS report.