Job seekers attend a job fair in Los Angeles.
U.S. companies shed 11,250 jobs per week, on average, in the four weeks ended October 25, according to data released today by ADP Research.
ADP’s most recent monthly report, released last week, showed private-sector payrolls increased 42,000 in October after declining in the prior two months. However, today’s figures suggest that the labor market slowed in the second half of October, compared with earlier in the month.
The figures come after an array of companies flagged plans to reduce headcount in recent weeks. A report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. showed employers announced the most job cuts for any October in more than two decades, spurring anxiety about the health of the labor market. Separate data from the University of Michigan show that 71 percent of respondents expect unemployment to rise in the year ahead, the largest share since 1980.
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history has delayed the release of key economic statistics, including the jobs reports for September and October. Investors have been looking to other metrics, like those in ADP’s reports, to fill the gaps. ADP announced last month that it will now also be releasing a four-week moving average of the change in total private employment.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists estimate that U.S. payrolls declined by 50,000 in October, after including employees who participated in the federal government’s deferred-resignation program. They now see an increased risk of labor market deterioration.
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