US private sector adds more jobs than expected in November

Private sector employment in the US grew a little more than expected in November, according to the latest data from ADP.

Employment rose by 534,000 from October, coming in ahead of expectations for a 525,000 increase. Meanwhile, the October total of jobs added was revised from 571,000 to 570,000.

Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said: "The labour market recovery continued to power through its challenges last month. November’s job gains bring the three month average to 543,000 monthly jobs added, a modest uptick from the job pace earlier this year. Job gains have eclipsed 15 million since the recovery began, though 5 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels. Service providers, which are more vulnerable to the pandemic, have dominated job gains this year.

"It’s too early to tell if the Omicron variant could potentially slow the jobs recovery in coming months."

Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees added 115,000 jobs, while medium businesses with between 50 and 499 employees added 142,000. Large businesses with more than 500 employees created a further 277,000 jobs.

The services sector added 424,000 jobs, while the goods-producing sector created 110,000.

Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, said the increase in the ADP measure of private payrolls in November is broadly consistent with his estimate that official non-farm payroll employment rose by a solid 500,000 last month.

"That strength supports Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments yesterday - that the FOMC might need to end its QE a few months earlier than previously planned," he said. "That said, we do expect payroll growth to ease back soon as, regardless of what happens with the Omicron coronavirus variant, rising Delta infection rates in the Northeast and Midwest begin to weigh on demand a little."