Payroll company ADP and Moody’s Analytics released their monthly employment report today, which announced that the country’s nonfarm private sector added just 130,000 jobs in October—a possible early indication of the economic fallout from the 16-day federal government shutdown in the earlier part of the month.
“The government shutdown and debt limit brinksmanship hurt the already softening job market in October,” said Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, in a press release. “Average monthly growth has fallen below 150,000. Any further weakening would signal rising unemployment. The weaker job growth is evident across most industries and company sizes.”
These gains are lower than ADP’s September jobs number, which was originally reported at 166,000 and revised down to 145,000.
By industry, construction added 14,000 jobs (a 0.23 percent change from September) and manufacturing added 5,000 (a 0.04 percent change). The professional and business services industry added 20,000. The other major October jobs report, by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is scheduled to be released on Nov. 8, and will include more detailed employment updates, such as construction type and jobs for the architecture and engineering industry.
