Private sector employment grew by 239,000 jobs in October, up from 192,000 in September, as annual pay increased 7.7%, payroll giant ADP reported, though worrisome job losses occurred in a number of sectors, including professional and business services.
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Despite the strong job gains, the continuing pace of inflation and a series of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve seem to be dampening hiring in some sectors.
"Where we're seeing some weakness is in financial activities, professional and business service and information," said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson during a conference call Wednesday with reporters. "We're also seeing weakness in the goods side, especially for manufacturing, which is a sector that is very rate sensitive, so we're seeing the signs of some of the Fed's rate hikes creeping in perhaps in the goods-producing sector."
Small businesses gained 25,000 employees in October, mostly at businesses with between one and 19 employees, which gained 62,000 employees, but that was dampened by job losses of 37,000 among businesses with 20 to 49 employees. Medium-size businesses gained 218,000 employees, mostly from companies with between 50 and 249 employees, which added 241,000 workers, but that was tempered by job losses of 23,000 at companies with between 250 and 499 employees. Large companies with 500 employees or more subtracted 4,000 employees last month.
Growth in pay eased somewhat last month. While job changers continued to experience double-digit, year-over-year pay increases, momentum in those gains seemed to be ebbing. For these workers, annual pay growth edged down for the third month in a row, to 15.2% in October from 15.7% in September. For job stayers, pay increases were 7.7%, in line with recent months.
