Healthcare a key driver of 42,000 October private-sector job gains

Employment in the nation’s private sector climbed by 42,000 jobs in October, with 26,000 added in the education and health services sector, according to an ADP report released Nov. 5.

The October national employment report, produced by ADP Research in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, examines anonymized weekly payroll data from more than 26 million private-sector employees in the U.S.

While October marked a return to job growth, Nela Richardson, PhD, ADP’s chief economist, stopped short of calling the gains widespread.

“Private employers added jobs in October for the first time since July, but hiring was modest relative to what we reported earlier this year,” Dr. Richardson said in a news release. “Meanwhile, pay growth has been largely flat for more than a year, indicating that shifts in supply and demand are balanced.”

The report found that trade, transportation and utilities led growth last month with 47,000 jobs added, followed by education and health services (up 26,000), which includes the healthcare sector, and financial activities (up 11,000).

Overall, U.S. private-sector employment increased by 42,000 in October, reflecting net gains after accounting for job losses in other industries.

Job gains in October primarily occurred at large organizations (those with more than 500 employees) and in the Pacific and Mountain regions.

At the same time, year-over-year pay growth was flat last month from September, at 4.5% for job-stayers and 6.7% for job-changers, according to ADP.

View the full report here.

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