US firms hire at slowest pace in September since January 2021, ADP says

Firms in the U.S. slowed their pace of hiring last month to the least since January 2021, the results of a survey revealed.

According to consultancy ADP, private sector companies took on 89,000 staff in September, dragged lower by an outright drop of 83,000 positions at large establishments or those employing over 500 people.

Consensus had been for 158,000 new payrolls following an increase of 177,000 in August.

Small companies on the other hand added 95,000 payrolls and medium ones another 72,000.

The West South Central region recorded the largest decline in hiring, with companies there shedding 74,000 people.

By sectors, goods producing firms added 8,000 staff and those in services another 81,000.

Within manufacturing however some 12,000 positions were lost and in professional/business services another 32,000.

"The September print is the lowest since January 2021, but there is zero statistical justification for changing our 175K private payroll forecast for Friday;" Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote after the report.

"ADP might be right, but that is not knowable in advance, and it could just as easily be very wrong. In any event, the biggest identifiable source of upside risk for Friday’s headline print is state and local government education jobs, where the seasonal patterns look extremely favorable."

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