The year ended on a high note in terms of job creation. This morning’s jobs report from payrolls processor ADP showed the addition of 202,000 jobs to private payrolls. Prior to the report’s release, economists were calling for an increase of 160,000 jobs, according to Reuters.
“As 2019 came to a close, we saw expanded payrolls in December,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute, in a statement. “The service providers posted the largest gain since April, driven mainly by professional and business services. Job creation was strong across companies of all sizes, led predominantly by midsized companies.”
Where Jobs Are Growing
On the goods-producing side, construction added 37,000 jobs, while manufacturing and mining declined by 7,000 and 1,000 jobs respectively.
Several service providing industries added jobs last month, including:
- Trade/transportation/utilities (+78,000 jobs)
- Professional/business services (+61,000 jobs)
- Education/health services (+49,000 jobs)
- Financial activities (+10,000 jobs)
Leisure/hospitality shed 21,000 jobs last month, while information declined by 14,000 jobs.
Looking Ahead to Friday’s Report
“Looking through the monthly vagaries of the data, job gains continue to moderate,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which produces the report with ADP. “Manufacturers, energy producers and small companies have been shedding jobs. Unemployment is low, but will begin to rise if job growth slows much further.”
Friday’s report from the Labor Department will show the updated unemployment rate and wage growth data, as well as job growth in the public and private sector. Economists polled by Reuters predict the addition of 164,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls. They expect the unemployment rate to remain at 3.5%.
The PayScale Index, which measures the change in wages for employed U.S. workers, showed 2.6% year-over-year growth for Q3 2019. However, real wages have declined 9.6% since 2006, prior to the last recession.
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