Thread: Employers added 206,000 private-sector jobs in November

Employers added 206,000 private-sector jobs in November

By msnbc.com news services

Private employers added 206,000 jobs in November, according to a new report released Wednesday from payrolls processor ADP.

The monthly number was better than expected. Analysts had expected a smaller gain in November. October’s monthly gain in private-sector hiring was revised up to 130,000 from a previously reported gain of 110,000.

Each month, ADP releases a report on whether private employers added any jobs in the prior month. The report is often used as a gauge heading into the government's monthly employment report, which is due out Friday.

U.S. workers increased their productivity over the summer by the most in a year and a half but the gain was smaller than initially thought.

A more productive and less-costly work force can boost corporate profits. But unless companies see more demand, they're unlikely to step up hiring.

Productivity rose at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the July-September quarter, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That was slower than the 3.1 percent the government estimated a month ago. Labor costs fell at a 2.5 percent rate, a slightly larger decline than the 2.4 percent drop first estimated.

Earlier, consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported the number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms edged down marginally in November, though job cuts for the year have surpassed 2010's total.

Employers announced 42,474 planned job cuts this month, down 0.7 percent from 42,759 in October, according to the report.

November's job cuts were down 12.8 percent from the same time a year ago when 48,711 layoffs were announced. But with just one month left in the year, employers have announced 564,297 cuts for 2011, exceeding 2010's total of 529,973.

Cuts in the government sector accounted for 44 percent of November's layoffs, the eighth time this year the sector has led all others in monthly job cuts.

Of the 18,508 government job cuts announced this month, 13,500 were the result of civilian workforce cuts made by the United States Air Force.

"Over the past six months, we definitely have seen a shift away from the heavy government job cuts at the state and local level toward increased job cuts at the federal level," John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. "The worst may be yet to come, as cutbacks spread from the military to every other agency in Washington."

Hiring plans fell sharply to 63,527 from 159,177 the month before. Most of November's gains were from seasonal workers being hired by UPS.

The report comes two days ahead of the key U.S. jobs report, which is forecast to show the economy added 122,000 in November.

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2 ... n-november

How many of these jobs went to foreign born workers?

IN October, foreign born workers licked up over 300,000 while American born workers lost 120,000.

W