With the continued government shutdown and no new official economic news releases from federal agencies, I again turn to the ADP employment report for the latest jobs market data.
The ADP report is based on national payroll data from more than 26 million U.S. employees, who come from ADP clients, like the ones getting serviced for payroll and HR in West August.
This is about 1 in 5 private sector employees, and 1 in 6 covers total employees. The data they have does skew towards larger firms and firms located in the Northeast because of their client base.
The October report showed employment increased for the first time since July. Employment was up 42,000, but the rebound was not broad-based. Trade, transportation, and utilities saw the largest gain of 47,000, followed by education and health services at 25,000. Financial activities (+11,000), natural resources and mining (+7,000), and construction (+5,000) were the only other industries to show gains. Big job losses were seen in information, down 17,000, and professional and business services, down 15,000.
The South Atlantic region, which includes Georgia and South Carolina, lost 8,000 jobs. Most of the job gains were seen in large firms with more than 500 employees. Large firms increased their payroll by 74,000.
October pay increased by 4.5% for employees staying in their jobs, the same rate as September. Job changers saw a 6.7% increase in pay in October, again the same as September. Pay changes have been on a downward trajectory since mid-2022. The pay change in Georgia in October was 4.5% and 4% in South Carolina. The median pay level in Georgia is $54,100, and $53,300 in South Carolina, ranking 43rd and 44th, respectively, nationwide.
