After an 11-month low in September due to hurricanes, the job market rebounded last month, with employers adding 235,000 private-sector jobs, according to payroll processor ADP. Prior to the release of this month’s ADP National Employment Report, economists polled by Reuters were predicting the addition of 200,000 jobs.
“The job market rebounded strongly from the hit it took from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, in a statement. Moody’s produces the report with ADP. “Resurgence in construction jobs shows the rebuilding is already in full swing. Looking through the hurricane-created volatility, job growth is robust.”
Where Jobs Are Growing
“Although the service providing sector was hard hit last month due to the weather, we saw significant growth in professional services, especially in the higher paid professional technical jobs,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Additionally, small businesses rebounded well from the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, posting very strong gains.”
Professional and business services added 109,000 jobs last month, by far the most of any industry. Leisure and hospitality added 45,000 jobs, while healthcare added 44,000 and financial activities 9,000. Other industries declined, including trade/transportation/utilities (-50,000 jobs), information (-27,000 jobs) and education (-5,000 jobs).
On the goods-producing side, both construction and manufacturing posted substantial gains (62,000 jobs and 22,000 jobs respectively), while mining added 1,000 jobs.
Large businesses (500+ employees) added 90,000 jobs last month, while medium-sized businesses (50-499 employees) added 66,000 jobs and small businesses (fewer than 50 employees) added 79,000 jobs.
Friday’s report from the labor department is expected to show total non-farm employment growth of 312,000 jobs, according to economists polled by Reuters. Economists predict that the unemployment rate will remain flat at 4.2 percent.
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