Overall job creation rebounds after 5-month slump, but not for healthcare

Job creation among private employers in September showed a “widespread rebound” after a five-month slowdown, according to the ADP National Employment Report Economy Lab report released Wednesday.

The report, which analyzes the payroll transactions of more than 25 million US workers, is produced by the ADP Research Institute in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

The health/education sector, however, saw a decline in job creation last month compared with the previous month. The sector added 24,000 jobs out of the 143,000 jobs added to the economy overall in September, compared with the 29,000 jobs out of 99,000 jobs added in August.

Leisure and hospitality jobs grew at the greatest rate last month, adding 34,000 jobs.

Large companies (those with 500 or more employees) gained the most jobs in September, 86,000. Medium-sized firms (with 50 to 499 employees) gained 64,000 jobs in the month, but small companies (with one to 49 employees) saw a decrease of 8,000 jobs.

Regionally, the biggest job gains in September occurred in the South, where 61,000 jobs were added. Private employers in the Northeast added 32,000 jobs, followed by the Midwest, with 26,000 jobs added, and the West with 22,000 jobs added. The change marked a big rebound for the Midwest, which had added only 7,000 jobs the previous month.

“Stronger hiring didn’t require stronger pay growth last month,” ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said in a press release issued in conjunction with the report. “Typically, workers who change jobs see faster pay growth. But that premium over job-stayers shrank to 1.9%, matching a low we last saw in January.”

Year-over-year pay gains for job-stayers fell slightly in September, to 4.7%, according to the report. For job-changers, pay gains fell from 7.3% in August to 6.6% in September.

Companies with 19 or fewer employees saw the smallest median change in annual pay, at 4%; at companies with 20 to 49 employees, the change was 4.6%; at companies with 500 or more employees, it was 4.7%; and at companies with 250 to 499 employees, it was 4.8%. Companies with 50 to 249 employees saw the greatest change in annual pay, 5%.