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Private payrolls increased by 307,000 jobs last month, the ADP
National Employment Report showed on Wednesday. Data for October
was revised up to show 404,000 jobs added instead of the
initially reported 365,000. Economists polled by Reuters had
forecast private payrolls would rise by 410,000 in November.
The ADP report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics.
Though it has fallen short of the government's private payrolls
count since May because of methodology differences, it is still
watched for clues on the labor market's health.
The United States has been slammed with a fresh wave of COVID-19
infections, with 4.2 million new cases and more than 35,000
coronavirus-related deaths reported in November, according to a
Reuters tally of official data.
The slowdown in private hiring last month followed in the wake
of reports showing a moderation in consumer spending in October
and cooling in manufacturing activity in November.
More than $3 trillion in government COVID-19 relief helped
millions of unemployed Americans cover daily expenses and
companies keep workers on payrolls, leading to record economic
growth in the third quarter. The fiscal stimulus has expired.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a new $908
billion emergency relief package. Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell said he and fellow Republicans were vetting stimulus
ideas they believed President Donald Trump would sign into law.
President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a sickly labor market and
public health crisis when he is sworn in on Jan. 20.
The ADP report was released ahead of the government's closely
watched, and comprehensive, monthly employment report on Friday.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, private nonfarm
payrolls likely increased by 587,000 jobs in November after
rising 906,000 in October.
With government payrolls expected to have declined again last
month as temporary workers hired for the Census left and state
and local government struggle with weakened budgets, overall
nonfarm payrolls are forecast increasing by 481,000 jobs after
rising 638,000 in October.
That would the smallest gain since the jobs recovery started in
May. It would leave employment about 9.609 million below its
peak in February. Job growth has cooled from a record 4.781
million in June.
Authorities across the country have imposed new restrictions on
businesses and other places where crowds congregate. While the
measures are not as tough as in March when the coronavirus
pandemic started in the United States, they have had a chilling
effect on the labor market.
First-time applications for unemployment benefits have increased
for two straight weeks. Data from Homebase, a payroll scheduling
and tracking company, showed a decline in the number of
employees working in November compared to October.
A survey from the Institute for Supply Management on Tuesday
showed its measure of factory employment contracted in November
after expanding in October for the first time since July 2019.
Manufacturers cited high rates of absenteeism and difficulties
in returning people to work and in hiring staff due to COVID-19.
The economy grew at a historic 33.1% annualized rate in the
third quarter after shrinking at a 31.4% rate in the April-June
period, the deepest since the government started keeping records
in 1947. Growth estimates for the fourth quarter are mostly
below a 5% rate. Exploding coronavirus infections and lack of
additional stimulus have left some economists anticipating a
contraction in the first quarter of 2021.
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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