US businesses ramp up hiring after election

U.S. businesses added 216,000 jobs in November on better-than-expected hiring by retailers ramping up for the holiday shopping season.

Private-sector employers hired the most people since June as businesses remained confident in the labor market’s strength after the presidential election, ADP, a payroll processor, reported on Wednesday.

{mosads}“Businesses hired aggressively in November and there is little evidence that the uncertainty surrounding the presidential election dampened hiring,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, whose group oversees the ADP figures.

“In addition, because of the tightening labor market, retailers may be accelerating seasonal hiring to secure an adequate workforce to meet holiday demand, although total expected seasonal hiring may be no higher than last year’s,” Zandi said.

Zandi noted that even with seasonal adjustments to the data, seasonal hiring was strong.

Most of the month’s gains were in the service sector that includes retail and restaurants as well as professional services, which added 68,000 jobs this month.

Construction added 2,000 jobs last month, but mining lost 4,000 jobs and manufacturing shed 10,000 jobs. 

The economy grew at a 3.2 percent pace in the July-September quarter, which is better than the 1.1 percent rate during the first half of the year, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday.

Notably, exports grew 10.1 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter, its fastest quarterly growth since late 2013, boosted by a jump in agricultural exports, the White House reported.

A separate report on Wednesday showed that incomes increased at their fastest pace in six months in October and were better than forecast.

“With more jobs and higher wages, households have more money in their pockets to purchase goods and services,” said Gus Faucher, PNC’s deputy chief economist.

“In turn, consumer spending is leading overall economic growth,” Faucher said.

The government is set to release its November jobs report on Friday with the forecast around 180,000, which would be more than the 161,000 in October.

“Overall, consumers are feeling confident and are driving the strong performance we currently see in the job market,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, head of the ADP Research Institute.