November ADP = 307,000

The stock market is backing off from its all-time highs set yesterday. As I write this, the S&P 500 is barely negative on the day.

This morning’s ADP report said that private employment increased by 307,000 last month.

The total represented a decline from the upwardly revised 404,000 in October and is the smallest gain since the 216,000 increase in July, according to the report, which is compiled in conjunction with Moody’s Analytics.

The revision added 39,000 to the original estimate from October, making the November miss not as bad as it appears. Markets had little reaction to the report.

“We expected a much weaker number, so this is something of a relief,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Wall Street had been expecting 475,000. This is part of a larger trend showing some weakness in the labor market. Tomorrow we get the next initial claims report and on Friday, the big jobs report is due out.

Posted by on December 2nd, 2020 at 2:03 pm


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