The U.S. economy added 163,000 private, non-farm jobs in August, according to the monthly employment report released today by payroll-management firm ADP and its partner Moody's Analytics. The seasonally adjusted result is approximately 25 percent lower than July's downwardly revised addition of 217,000 jobs, and marks a 4 percent decrease from last August, when 170,000 jobs were created.
“Although we saw a small slowdown in job growth the market remains incredibly dynamic,” said ADP Research Institute vice president and co-head Ahu Yildirmaz in a press release. “Midsized businesses continue to be the engine of growth, adding nearly 70 percent of all jobs this month, and remain resilient in the current economic climate.”
“The job market is hot," said Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi in the same release. "Employers are aggressively competing to hold onto their existing workers and to find new ones. Small businesses are struggling the most in this competition, as they increasingly can’t fill open positions.”
Small businesses—firms that employ between one and 49 employees—gained 21,000 jobs in August. Within that group, firms that employ fewer than 20 people added 9,000 jobs, and firms with 20 to 49 employees created 12,000 new positions.
Mid-sized businesses—those with 50 to 499 employees—accounted for the largest share of employment gains by company size for the 10th consecutive month, with 111,000 positions added.
Large businesses, consisting of 500 employees or more, added 31,000 jobs. Within that figure, businesses employing 500 to 999 people gained 27,000 jobs, and companies with 1,000 or more employees added 4,000 positions.
The service-providing sector, which has shown the strongest growth in the ADP's job report for 17 consecutive months, contributed 85.3 percent, or 139,000 jobs, of the total gains in August. This sector encompasses jobs in seven subsectors—professional and business services; trade/transportation/utilities; information; financial activities; education and health; leisure and hospitality; and other services—all of which experienced growth in August.
Employment in the professional and business services subsector, which includes architecture and engineering firms, added 38,000 jobs, a 19.1 percent decrease from last month. This subsector accounted for 27.3 percent of all service-providing sector jobs added in August.
The goods-producing sector, which includes jobs in natural resources and mining, construction, and manufacturing, added 24,000 jobs last month. Within that figure, the construction subsector gained 5,000 jobs, or 20.8 percent of the jobs added in this sector in August. The natural resources/mining subsector lost 1,000 jobs, while the manufacturing subsector added 19,000 new positions.
ADP's national employment report is often used as a precursor for the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, which will release its August edition on Friday.
For more information, read the full employment report from ADP.
