BLBG:ADP Says U.S. Companies Added 158,000 Workers in October
Companies added 158,000 workers in October, according to a private report based on payrolls.
The increase in employment was higher than forecast, data from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Research Institute showed today. This is the first ADP report derived using a larger sample and new methodology.
The median forecast of 37 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 131,000 advance. Estimates ranged from 80,000 to 170,000. The previous methodology showed a gain of 162,000 jobs in September.
Today’s report represents a break from the way ADP had calculated employment figures dating back to 2001. Today also marks the first joint release with Moody’s Analytics Inc. of West Chester, Pennsylvania. ADP had previously collaborated with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC of St. Louis.
The report now draws on data from 406,000 of Automatic Data Processing Inc.’s corporate customers, up from the 344,000 used in the prior method. Those customers employ 23 million workers, or more than 20 percent of all non-government staff, ADP said in press release announcing the changes on Oct. 24.
Additionally, ADP and Moody’s said the new methodology they developed will better align their figures with those from the Labor Department’s monthly payroll report. The methodology uses data from ADP customers, the Labor Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Aruoba-Diebold-Scotti Business Conditions Index. ADP said its numbers should correlate most closely with the final, revised Labor Department figures, rather than those initially released at the beginning of the month.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Kowalski in Washington at akowalski13@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net
