US Companies See Largest Payroll Decline Since Early 2023 as Labor Market Concerns Grow
A report from ADP Research indicates that US companies shed payrolls in November by the most since early 2023, further fueling concerns about a weakening labor market. The decline of 32,000 private-sector jobs marked the fourth consecutive month of job losses, contradicting economists' predictions of a 10,000 gain.
The disappointing ADP report has significant implications ahead of the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting next week, where policymakers will be weighing the need to cut interest rates against controlling inflation. Despite expectations of a rate cut, the guidance is likely to remain hawkish, with the Fed also releasing fresh quarterly economic projections.
"Weekly hiring has been quite choppy," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP and contributor to Bloomberg Television. "Employers are weathering cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment." The report showed that companies with fewer than 50 employees shed 120,000 jobs, the largest one-month decline since May 2020, while establishments with 50 or more employees saw a gain in headcount.
The labor market has been on shaky ground, with large corporations like Apple and Verizon Communications announcing layoffs. This trend is expected to drive unemployment higher and will be closely watched by policymakers as they make their decisions.
Wage growth also cooled according to the ADP report, with workers who changed jobs seeing a 6.3% increase in pay, the lowest since February 2021. Those who stayed put saw a 4.4% gain. The slowdown in wage growth is a concern for policymakers as they consider rate cuts and other monetary policies.
The November jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will now be released on December 16 due to data collection being halted during the record-long shutdown. This report will provide further insight into the labor market, which is expected to remain a key focus for policymakers ahead of the Fed's final meeting next week.
A report from ADP Research indicates that US companies shed payrolls in November by the most since early 2023, further fueling concerns about a weakening labor market. The decline of 32,000 private-sector jobs marked the fourth consecutive month of job losses, contradicting economists' predictions of a 10,000 gain.
The disappointing ADP report has significant implications ahead of the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting next week, where policymakers will be weighing the need to cut interest rates against controlling inflation. Despite expectations of a rate cut, the guidance is likely to remain hawkish, with the Fed also releasing fresh quarterly economic projections.
"Weekly hiring has been quite choppy," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP and contributor to Bloomberg Television. "Employers are weathering cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment." The report showed that companies with fewer than 50 employees shed 120,000 jobs, the largest one-month decline since May 2020, while establishments with 50 or more employees saw a gain in headcount.
The labor market has been on shaky ground, with large corporations like Apple and Verizon Communications announcing layoffs. This trend is expected to drive unemployment higher and will be closely watched by policymakers as they make their decisions.
Wage growth also cooled according to the ADP report, with workers who changed jobs seeing a 6.3% increase in pay, the lowest since February 2021. Those who stayed put saw a 4.4% gain. The slowdown in wage growth is a concern for policymakers as they consider rate cuts and other monetary policies.
The November jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will now be released on December 16 due to data collection being halted during the record-long shutdown. This report will provide further insight into the labor market, which is expected to remain a key focus for policymakers ahead of the Fed's final meeting next week.
so I'm reading this news and it seems like US companies are having some trouble with hiring new people... like, they're actually cutting jobs 
which is weird 'cause everyone thought that would happen if interest rates went up. but what's weird is that even though the big tech companies like Apple and Verizon are laying off people, the report says that companies with just a few employees are having some major layoffs too 
120k jobs lost in one month... that's crazy! I'm not sure what's going on or why this is happening, but it sounds like employers are being pretty cautious 
maybe they're waiting to see if inflation goes down before they start hiring again? 
! i mean, 32k job losses in one month? that's crazy! and the trend of large corps laying people off doesn't sound good at all 
. i was expecting a rate cut, but now it looks like the fed might be sticking to its guns 
. can't wait for the full BLS report on dec 16th to see if things get better or worse 
So I'm reading this about US companies cutting jobs again and it's like, what's going on? 
And it's not like they're doing it because the economy is good or anything, it's more like employers are being super cautious and trying to save money. 
this job loss news is really concerning.. i can imagine how scary it must be for people who just lost their jobs or are worried about losing theirs in the coming weeks. it's like, one month they're gaining jobs and then suddenly the whole thing flips around. 
what's going on with these large corporations cutting back? 
and wage growth cooling down is like yikes another thing to worry about policymakers are gonna have their hands full tryna balance the books while controlling inflation 
. I'm not surprised that economists were wrong on this one - they've been predicting a job gain for months now 
. It's time for the Fed to take a closer look at what's really going on in the labor market and make some changes. If wage growth is cooling down, it's only gonna get worse