The nation’s private sector employment grew by 125,000 jobs in October, according to the latest report by Roseland-based ADP.
The payroll and human services company said in its ADP National Employment Report that total nonfarm private jobs were down 10,000 positions when compared to last month’s 135,000 new roles.
“While job growth continues to soften, there are certain segments of the labor market that remain strong,” Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute, said. “The goods producing sector showed weakness; however, the health care industry and mid-sized companies had solid gains.”
By company size, medium businesses with 50-499 employees took over the month, adding 64,000 new positions, while large businesses with 500 or more employees added 44,000 and small businesses of under 50 employees added 17,000.
Among ADP’s top two sectors, the service-producing industry added 138,000 new roles while the goods-producing industry lost 13,000.
Breaking down the service-producing industry into seven top segments, education/health services was the top gainer, adding 41,000 new positions. Next up was trade/transportation/utilities, which had a growth of 32,000 new roles; leisure/hospitality added 19,000; professional/business services added 18,000; financial activities added 17,000; other services added 9,000; and information added 3,000.
In the goods-producing industry, each segment had job losses, with construction, manufacturing and natural resources/mining losing 4,000 positions, respectively.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “Job growth has throttled way back over the past year. The job slowdown is most pronounced at manufacturers and small companies. If hiring weakens any further, unemployment will begin to rise.”
