The private sector added 230,000 jobs last month, according to the ADP National Employment Report, exceeding analysts’ estimates of 220,000 jobs added.
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“Employment continues to trend upward as we begin the last quarter of 2014, driven mostly by small to
mid-sized companies,” says Carlos Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of payroll processor ADP. “October’s job growth is the highest since June and the second highest gain of 2014.”
This was the biggest addition by mid-sized companies in seven years, according to Reuters. Companies with 50 to 499 employees added 122,000 jobs in October, more than double September’s gains of 47,000 jobs. Small companies, with fewer than 50 employees, added 102,000 jobs in October, up from 93,000 jobs in September.
Large companies, on the other hand, saw a huge drop — just 5,000 jobs in October, compared to 85,000 jobs in September. Companies with over 1,000 employees were the main culprit: these employers shed 8,000 jobs during the month, which was only partially offset by gains at companies with 500 to 999 employees.
Professional and business services added 53,000 jobs in October. Trade, transportation, and utilities added 47,000 jobs, while construction added 28,000 jobs.
“The job market is steadily picking up pace,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which produces the report with ADP. “Job growth is strong and broad — based across industries and company sizes. At this pace of job growth unemployment and underemployment is quickly declining. The job market will soon be tight enough to support a meaningful acceleration in wage growth.”
The PayScale Index forecasts a 0.3 percent increase in wages for the fourth quarter of 2014, after a Q3 increase of 1.2 percent.
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And the Republican wingnuts will arrive to lie and claim this is all bad news in 5,4,3,2…