The private sector added 213,000 jobs from August to September, according to the latest employment report released today by payroll-processing firm ADP and partner Moody’s Analytics. This indicates increased growth from the previous report, which stated that employment rose by a revised 202,000 (initially reported as 204,000) from July to August. It is down, however, from the revised June and July reports of 297,000 and 217,000 jobs, respectively.
The September data marks the sixth consecutive month of job gains above 200,000. “It’s a positive sign for the economy to see the 200,000-plus trend continue,” ADP president and CEO Carlos Rodriguez said in a press release.
"Job gains remain strong and steady. The pace of job growth has been remarkably similar for the past several years, Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said in the press release. “Especially encouraging most recently is the increasingly broad base nature of those gains. Nearly all industries and companies of all sizes are adding consistently to payrolls.”
Employment in the construction industry rose by 20,000 last month. This is slightly below the increase of 23,000 in August, and above the increase of 19,000 in July.
It was a great month for the manufacturing industry, which added 35,000 jobs, the highest gain in that sector since May 2010. This is over two times the growth experienced in August and five times the growth seen in July.
Meanwhile, the professional and business services sector, a broad category that most likely includes architects and engineers, experienced its third consecutive month of deflated growth. The addition of 29,000 jobs in September is below August’s addition of 37,000 and July’s addition of 48,000 jobs.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report is scheduled for release Friday morning and will provide more detailed information about the economic state of the construction and architecture fields.
Charts: Maggie Goldstone; Source: ADP, Moody's Analytics