ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Adds 146,000 Jobs in November

Private sector employment in the U.S. grew by 146,000 jobs in November, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report, which provides a near real-time analysis of the labor market based on payroll data from over 25 million employees. The report, produced in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, also showed annual pay increases of 4.8% for job-stayers and 7.2% for job-changers.

Mixed Industry Performance

While overall growth was described as “healthy” by Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, performance across sectors varied significantly. “Manufacturing was the weakest we’ve seen since spring. Financial services and leisure and hospitality were also soft,” Richardson noted.

• Goods-Producing Sector: Added 6,000 jobs overall. Construction led gains with 30,000 jobs, while manufacturing shed 26,000 positions, marking a notable decline.
• Service-Providing Sector: Contributed 140,000 new jobs, with education and health services seeing the largest growth (50,000 jobs), followed by trade/transportation/utilities (28,000) and professional/business services (18,000).

Regional Job Growth

Employment gains were spread across all U.S. regions, though results were uneven within each area:

• South: Led the regions with 61,000 jobs, driven by a 42,000-job increase in the South Atlantic. However, the East South Central region saw an 11,000-job loss.
• Northeast: Added 38,000 positions, primarily in the Middle Atlantic (+48,000), offsetting a loss of 10,000 jobs in New England.
• Midwest: Contributed 31,000 jobs, with East North Central states accounting for 26,000 of the growth.
• West: Saw a gain of 29,000 jobs, led by the Mountain subregion (+18,000).

Employment by Business Size

The November report highlighted a significant disparity in job growth by establishment size:

• Large Establishments (500+ employees): Drove the month’s growth, adding 120,000 jobs.
• Medium Establishments (50-499 employees): Added 42,000 jobs.
• Small Establishments (1-49 employees): Lost 17,000 positions, with businesses employing 20-49 workers accounting for a 29,000-job decline.

Wage Growth Shows Uptick

November marked the first acceleration in annual pay gains for job-stayers in over two years, rising to 4.8%. Pay for job-changers grew by 7.2%, underscoring a stronger bargaining position for workers who switched employers.

Pay Growth by Sector

• Goods-Producing Industries: Construction led with a 5.2% pay increase, followed by manufacturing at 4.7%.
• Service-Providing Industries: Education and health services topped the sector with a 5.1% pay gain, followed by financial activities at 5.0%.

Pay Growth by Business Size

• Small Firms (1-49 employees): Job-stayers saw increases ranging from 4.2% to 4.8%.
• Medium Firms (50-499 employees): Pay growth hovered around 4.8% to 4.9%.
• Large Firms (500+ employees): Recorded a 4.7% increase in pay for job-stayers.

Revised October Data

The October estimate for private-sector job growth was revised downward from 233,000 to 184,000, following updates informed by the latest Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data.