ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 271,000 Jobs in December

Private sector employment increased by 271,000 jobs from November to December according to the December ADP National Employment Report®.  Broadly distributed to the public each month, free of charge, the ADP National Employment Report is produced by the ADP Research Institute® in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics.  The report, which is derived from ADP’s actual payroll data, measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

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Total U.S. Nonfarm Private Employment:     271,000

By Company Size

– Small businesses:     89,000

  • 1-19 employees     25,000
  • 20-49 employees     63,000

– Medium businesses:     129,000

  • 50-499 employees     129,000

– Large businesses:     54,000

  • 500-999 employees     48,000
  • 1,000+ employees     6,000

By Sector

– Goods-producing:     47,000

  • Natural resources/mining     -2,000
  • Construction     37,000
  • Manufacturing     12,000

– Service-providing:     224,000

  • Trade/transportation/utilities     33,000
  • Information     6,000
  • Financial activities     7,000
  • Professional/business services     66,000         – Professional/technical services     30,000         – Management of companies/enterprises     4,000        – Administrative/support services     32,000
  • Education/health services     61,000         – Health care/social assistance      41,000         – Education     20,000
  • Leisure/hospitality     39,000
  • Other services     12,000

* Sum of components may not equal total, due to rounding.

  • Franchise Employment**        – Franchise jobs     29,000

“We wrapped up 2018 with another month of significant growth in the labor market,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.  “Although there were increases in most sectors, the busy holiday season greatly impacted both trade and leisure and hospitality. Small businesses also experienced their strongest month of job growth all year.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, “Businesses continue to add aggressively to their payrolls despite the stock market slump and the trade war. Favorable December weather also helped lift the job market. At the current pace of job growth, low unemployment will get even lower.”

The matched sample used to develop the ADP National Employment Report was derived from ADP payroll data, which represents 411,000 U.S. clients employing nearly 24 million workers in the U.S.  The November total of jobs added was revised down from 179,000 to 157,000.