ADP National Employment Report on Private Sector Job Creation Misses Forecast

The ADP National Employment Report finds 154,000 people were added to private sector payrolls in September, missing the estimate for 166,000. The payroll processing firm said August payrolls were revised lower by 2,000 to 175,000.

“The current record of consecutive monthly job gains continued in September,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. “With job openings at all-time highs and layoffs near all-time lows, the job market remains in full-swing. Job growth has moderated in recent months, but only because the economy is finally returning to full-employment.”

As we’ve seen in previous months, the bulk of private sector job creation came from lower-paying service sector employment opportunities. Meanwhile, manufacturing jobs were down 6,000 in September, after losing 4,000 in the previous month. Service-providing employment rose by 151,000 jobs in September, while professional/business services added just 45,000 jobs, down from 53,000 in August.

Trade/transportation/utilities increased by 15,000 jobs in September, down from 26,000 jobs added the previous month. Financial activities added 11,000 jobs, down from last month’s gain of 15,000 jobs.

“Job gains in September eased a bit when compared to the past 12-month average,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and head of the ADP Research Institute. “We also observed softening this month in trade/transportation/utilities, possibly due to a continued tightening U.S. labor market and lackluster consumer spending.”