Private sector added 215,000 jobs in November

Private-sector employment increased by 215,000 jobs in November, the strongest growth this year and a sign that the labor market’s growth is accelerating.

The job market showed strength through the government shutdown and the fiscal uncertainty in Washington, according to the November ADP National Employment Report released on Wednesday. 

{mosads}”This number is really good and augers well for the economy that appears to be quite resilient and that better times appear dead ahead,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Analytics, who works with ADP to produce the monthly figures. 

Zandi said that the job market is “holding up well, which is very encouraging.”

“I’m surprised we have not seen some weakening related to what happened in October with brinkmanship over the debt limit. I just don’t see it.”

Employers added 54,000 more jobs than initially estimated in October, up to 184,000 jobs from 130,000.

“If Washington doesn’t botch it and keeps government open and raises the debt limit, the prospects are that we’ll see much better growth in jobs next year with better GDP and lower unemployment,” Zandi said. 

“Everything is coming together for a much better economy as we move toward 2014.”

Service-providing industries added 176,000 jobs in November, up from 156,000 in October, the largest gain in the service sector in a year.

Growth was broad based with 18,000 jobs added in both the construction and manufacturing sectors. 

The gain for manufacturing was the largest since early 2012.

Small businesses added 102,000 jobs while larger firms expanded their payrolls by 65,000. 

The Labor Department will report on November job growth Friday with growth expected around 200,000 jobs. 

Employers added 212,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.3 percent from 7.2. 

Softer than expected numbers — those in the 175,000 range — could be a reflection of government delays and processes related to the 16-day shutdown in October, Zandi said. 

October’s figures could have been juiced a bit and a late Thanksgiving could skew the seasonal hiring figures, he said. 

Regardless of Friday’s figure Zandi said that the “reality is that underlying jobs growth is still about 175,000 a month.”

If the labor market’s improvement does bear out in the next few months, that would be a signal for the Federal Reserve to begin tapering their $85 billion monthly bond-buying program. 

Zandi said he expects that move to happen no later than March.