Job seekers talk to recruiters at the Albany job fair in Latham, New York, U.S., Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
Angus Mordants | Bloomberg | Getty Images
ADP reported Wednesday that private sector job creation surged to the highest level in more than a year in October despite a devastating storm season and severe workforce disruptions across the Southeast.
The payroll processing company said companies hired 233,000 new workers this month, better than September’s upwardly revised estimate of 159,000 and well above the Dow Jones’ forecast of 113,000. ADP said it was the best month for job creation since July 2023.
“Job growth in October remained strong even amid hurricane recovery,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “As the year draws to a close, U.S. hiring is proving to be strong and generally resilient.”
The numbers run counter to expectations of a slowdown in October, after two hurricanes – Helen and Milton – devastated the Southeast, particularly Florida and North Carolina.
On top of that, labor disruptions at port workers and Boeing are also expected to hit payrolls, with some economists saying October will be an outlier report that Fed officials will largely dismiss at next week’s meeting .
However, the ADP report showed the labor market remained stable. In addition to the increase in recruiting, salaries are also up 4.6% from a year ago.
Plus, the benefits are wide-ranging. Leading industries include education and health services (53,000), trade, transportation and utilities (51,000), construction, leisure and hospitality (up 37,000 each), and professional and business services (31,000).
Manufacturing was the only industry to report a loss, down 19,000 jobs this month, as Boeing’s strike since Sept. 13 has sidelined 33,000 of the company’s workers.
Job creation was concentrated in companies with 500 or more employees, adding a total of 140,000 people. Companies with fewer than 50 employees saw little change, accounting for only 4,000 of the total.
The ADP report traditionally provides the more closely watched nonfarm employment data from the Bureau of Labor Services. The report, released on Friday, projected growth of just 100,000 and the unemployment rate steady at 4.1%.
However, there can be significant differences in reports from ADP and BLS, which includes government workers. A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Private employment increased by 223,000 Total employment increased by 254,000 in September.
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