U.S. Private-Sector Hiring Eases More Than Expected as Large Firms Begin to Shed Jobs
05 October 2023 - 12:12AM
Dow Jones News
By Joshua Kirby
Hiring among U.S. private-sector employees cooled much more than
expected in September as the labor market continued to loosen,
though wage growth stayed steady.
Employment in the nonfarm private sector increased by 89,000
jobs, compared with 180,000 in August, according to data from the
ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday. This was the
slowest pace of growth since January 2021, the ADP said. Economists
polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected an increase of
160,000 jobs.
August's figure was revised up slightly from a previous estimate
of 177,000.
"We are seeing a steepening decline in jobs this month," said
Nela Richardson, chief economist at the ADP.
Annual wage growth meanwhile stood at 5.9% in September, the
same level as in August and marking a straight year of no
acceleration in wage growth, according to the ADP survey. Pay data
is based on the salaries of almost 10 million individual employees
over a 12-month period.
Large employers shed jobs in September, driving the slowdown in
overall growth and wiping out gains made the previous month. Jobs
were lost in the manufacturing, and trade, transportation and
utilities sectors, as well as in professional and business
services. Conversely, the leisure and hospitality sector added
92,000 jobs over the month, while the construction and financial
industries were among the other sectors that added most
positions.
By region, the West and especially the Pacific area added most
jobs, while the South was the only region to shed jobs overall.
The ADP estimate is based on aggregated payroll data of more
than 25 million U.S. workers and is independent from U.S. Labor
Department official data. The ADP series can diverge considerably
from the Labor Department's data.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com;
@joshualeokirby
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 04, 2023 08:57 ET (12:57 GMT)
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