(NewsNation) — After falling in September, private sector employment rose by 42,000 jobs in October, according to payroll processor ADP.
It’s the first gain in ADP’s data since July and follows a 29,000 job decline the previous month — but it’s not a sign hiring is strong.
“Last month delivered a rebound from two months of weak hiring, but the bounce wasn’t broad-based,” ADP said.
Job gains were concentrated in a few service-oriented sectors: education and health care (+26,000) as well as trade, transportation and utilities (+47,000). Meanwhile, employers continued to shed manufacturing roles (-3,000) and jobs in professional business services (-15,000).
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Last month’s job growth was mostly limited to large companies with 500-plus employees, while smaller employers continued to lose roles.
“Hiring was modest relative to what we reported earlier this year,” Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said in a statement. “Meanwhile, pay growth has been largely flat for more than a year, indicating that shifts in supply and demand are balanced.”
For context: In October 2024, private employers added 184,000 jobs, per ADP.
Wednesday’s report comes after a flurry of high-profile layoff announcements from Amazon, Target and General Motors but suggests the labor market is cooling gradually rather than collapsing.
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With the government shutdown delaying official jobs figures, ADP’s data has become an important gauge of hiring trends as policymakers look for clues about the economy’s direction.
Last week, the Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate to help support growth and prevent a rapid slowdown in the labor market, even as inflation remains above its 2% target.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3% in August — still low by historic standards — but without fresh federal data, it’s unclear how that’s changed since.
“We believe the Federal Reserve provided enough support to the labor market with their two back-to-back rate cuts to remain on hold at the next two meetings,” Matthew Martin, senior economist at Oxford Economics, said in a statement Wednesday.
