U.S. companies added 365,000 jobs to their payrolls in October, Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported Wednesday. The gain was well below forecasts from economists surveyed by Econoday who expected a gain of 600,000 jobs.
In September, the private sector added revised 753,000 jobs to their payrolls.
Small businesses added 114,000 jobs to their payrolls in October, ADP said. Medium-sized businesses added 135,000 and large companies added 116,000.
Manufacturing only added 7,000 jobs in October. The service-producing sector had most of the gains, rising by 348,00 jobs.
The ADP is an early look at the national labor market picture but the two reports have not been matching up very well during this recession.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expect job gains to slow to a gain of 530,000 jobs in October, down from 661,000 in September. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 7.6% from 7.9% in the prior month.
Behind the numbers, there are still about 10 million workers who are unemployed as a result of the pandemic.
U.S. stock futures were higher even as President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden were locked in a tight election race. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
BREAKING: Private payrolls grew by 365,000 in October as labor market recovery decelerates: ADP https://t.co/yFNsiuM8i0 by @emily_mcck pic.twitter.com/05MBwNVDlT
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) November 4, 2020
Uber, Lyft and other gig giants have won a California vote to keep drivers as independent contractors rather than employees https://t.co/XLZLeYjB3Y pic.twitter.com/JfGTFpB2Ir
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) November 4, 2020