Service industries supplied most of October’s increase in US private employment. Trade, transportation and utilities expanded, alongside education and health, while professional and business services lost jobs for a third month. Annual growth in gross earnings exceeded the rise in base pay, with job changers recording stronger increases than workers who stayed.
US private employers increased payrolls by 86,000 jobs in October, according to the employment estimate released on November 4.[1], [2]
Payroll services provider Automatic Data Processing, known as ADP, produces the measure with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. It uses anonymized weekly payroll information covering 26 million private-sector workers. Service providers added 82,000 jobs, compared with 4,000 in goods-producing industries.[1]
Trade, transportation and utilities gained 39,000 jobs, and education and health services added 28,000. Construction expanded by 13,000. Professional and business services shed 27,000 positions, its third consecutive monthly decline. Manufacturing lost 1,000 jobs, while natural resources and mining lost 8,000. Small, medium and large establishments all recorded net hiring during the month.[1]
Median base pay rose 3.2 per cent annually, while gross earnings, including bonuses, commissions and overtime, increased 4.7 per cent. For job changers those increases were 4.8 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively. ADP’s pay comparisons use a separate sample of 14.7 million annual pay matches each month.[1]
