Companies in U.S. Added 190,000 Jobs in November, ADP Data Show

(Bloomberg) -- Companies added 190,000 workers to U.S. payrolls in November, indicating the job market remained healthy following months of hurricane-related distortions, according to data released Wednesday from the ADP Research Institute in Roseland, New Jersey.

Key Takeaways

The report indicates the labor market is on a steady footing, consistent with other data that show consumer demand and business investment are expanding. That may encourage companies to keep hiring, though employers also face the challenge of finding skilled workers as the job market tightens, with unemployment at an almost 17-year low.

The ADP results also are a positive sign for official figures on non-government payrolls, which will be released as part of the November jobs report by the Labor Department on Friday. Economists have penciled in a median estimate of a 200,000 gain.

Economist's View

“The job market is red hot, with broad-based job gains across industries and company sizes,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said in a statement. Moody's produces the figures with ADP. “The only soft spots are in industries being disrupted by technology, brick-and-mortar retailing being the best example. There is a mounting threat that the job market will overheat next year.”

Other Details

• Hiring in construction fell by 4,000 in November; natural resources and mining was unchanged
• Professional and business services added 47,000 workers, while education and health services added 54,000; employers in information services cut 13,000 jobs, the third straight drop
• Companies employing 500 or more workers increased staffing by 41,000 jobs, least since April; payrolls rose by 99,000 at medium-sized businesses, or those with 50 to 499 employees; and small companies' payrolls increased by 50,000

--With assistance from Alex Tanzi

To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Brendan Murray

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