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Dow Jones NewsNov 5, 1:24 PM UTC
MW ADP says businesses create 42,000 job in October, - but the labor market is still not great
By Jeffry Bartash
Hiring increases for first time in three months
Job seekers apply for open positions. Hiring has slowed sharply since the spring.
Privately run businesses created 42,000 new jobs in October - the biggest increase in three months - in a possible sign of stabilization in a weakening U.S. labor market.
"Private employers added jobs in October for the first time since July, but hiring was modest relative to what we reported earlier this year," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, the the nation's largest processor of payroll checks.
The ADP report always takes a backseat to the government's employment survey published at the start of each month. Yet the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been closed during the shutdown and hasn't released an employment report since August.
That makes the ADP report the only game in town, so to speak. And what the report has shown since the spring is a a labor market in which few companies are hiring - or firing - employees.
While the BLS survey is considered more accurate in the short run, the two reports show the same trend in the jobs market over time.
Big picture: The labor market is facing the most stress since the pandemic.
Blame it mostly on come-and-go trade wars and a crackdown on immigration that's shrunk the pool of potential workers. It's also seems companies are starting to use artificial intelligence to replacing some human jobs.
The labor market is unlikely to stage a comeback until the trade wars fade away and interest rates further decline to give the economy a jolt of adrenalin.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and S&P 500 SPX were set to open flat to lower in Tuesday trading.
-Jeffry Bartash
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11-05-25 0824ET
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