The ADP national employment report released on Wednesday, February 4, showed that only 22,000 jobs were added by private companies in the United States in January. This figure was significantly lower than the expectations of economists.
The data released by the payroll processing company ADP indicated that the labor market in the United States showed little improvement in January, with hiring numbers even lower than previously anticipated. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones & Company had predicted an increase of 45,000 jobs for the month, while Fox Business News had forecasted 48,000 jobs.
The number of new jobs added in December last year was revised downward to 37,000 from the initially reported 41,000.
The education and healthcare services industries performed the best, with a significant increase of 74,000 new hires. Without the strong performance in this sector, job growth in private companies in January could have potentially been negative.
Additionally, the financial sector added 14,000 positions, the construction industry saw an increase of 9,000 jobs, and leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation, and utilities each added 4,000 job positions.
Recruitment in the natural resources and mining industry remained flat.
Meanwhile, several industries experienced a decline in employment.
The professional and business services industry saw a decrease of 57,000 positions, other services categories declined by 13,000 positions, manufacturing decreased by 8,000 positions, and the information sector reduced recruitment by 5,000 positions.
In terms of company size, all new job positions were created by medium-sized companies with 50 to 499 employees. Small companies with fewer than 50 employees saw no change in new hires compared to the previous month, while large companies with 500 or more employees cut 18,000 positions.
There was little change in wage growth compared to December last year, with workers who remained in their current positions seeing a 4.5% increase in wages compared to the same period last year.
Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at ADP, stated in an interview with CNBC, “Hiring activity is slowing down, continuing a pattern we have observed over the past three years. In the current economic climate, employers are not eager to hire new employees.”
ADP’s report is usually released ahead of the highly anticipated non-farm payroll report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This government report is typically released on the following Friday. However, due to a partial government shutdown in the preceding days, the release of the labor statistics data will be delayed.
(This article was referenced from CNBC reports)