ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector “Job Market Is Hot”

The ADP National Employment Report finds the U.S. private sector added 163,000 jobs in August, with mid-sized businesses driving growth. The consensus forecast was looking for 182,000.

But the markets still view the report as solid, especially in the wake of jobless claims falling to the lowest level since December 6, 1969. The 4-week average also fell to the lowest level since December 6, 1969. That’s rare, and the roughly 50-year low is a good sign ahead of the monthly jobs report due out Friday.

“The job market is hot. Employers are aggressively competing to hold onto their existing workers and to find new ones,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said. “Small businesses are struggling the most in this competition, as they increasingly can’t fill open positions.”

The goods-producing sector saw a scale back this month, though another 19,000 manufacturing jobs were added in August. The manufacturing sector under the Trump Administration has posted the strongest demand for labor in decades. The PMI this morning indicated a surge was headed our way.

Meanwhile, the service-providing sector added 139,000 jobs in August, with professional/business services (+38,000) contributing the most.

“Although we saw a small slowdown in job growth the market remains incredibly dynamic,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Midsized businesses continue to be the engine of growth, adding nearly 70 percent of all jobs this month, and remain resiliant in the current economic climate.”

Mid-sized businesses with 50-499 employees led the way adding 111,000 jobs in August, followed by large businesses with 500 or more employees at 31,000. Small businesses, which cite tax reform as the reason to have record high levels of optimism, added 21,000. While that’s a bit lower this month, they have returned to historical levels.