Private sector hiring slowed in November

RALEIGH – Ahead of the latest update on the employment situation in the United States from the U.S. Labor Department on Friday, ADP reported today that private hiring slowed sharply in November.

According to the report, private firms added 127,000 positions this month. That’s down from 239,000 that were added in October, according to ADP’s previous monthly report.

“Turning points can be hard to capture in the labor market, but our data suggest that Federal Reserve tightening is having an impact on job creation and pay gains,” said ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson, in a statement published by CBNC on Wednesday. “In addition, companies are no longer in hyper-replacement mode. Fewer people are quitting and the post-pandemic recovery is stabilizing.”

And while many technology firms like Amazon, Apple, and Disney, have announced hiring freezes for corporate and technology roles, technology employment increased in October, according to Dr. Gerald Cohen, chief economist at the Kenan Institute. A report issued last week by the North Carolina Technology Association showed there were more than 39,000 technology job openings in North Carolina during the month, the highest such total this year.

Which means that tech employment in North Carolina, and in the Triangle, may have risen in November, as well.

Job postings are dropping across Triangle – is it time to panic?

Talent still very much in demand in NC, Triangle

Cohen, who will provide a media briefing on Friday following the release of the monthly US jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, told WRAL TechWire this week that demand for labor in the Triangle is likely to remain high, given the continued influx of businesses and individuals into the state.

“However, all bets are off if companies start pulling back on their plans to expand into North Carolina and the Triangle region in particular,” said Cohen.

Still, even though the ADP report on private sector employment showed lower-than-expected positions, that doesn’t necessarily mean that folks should expect a drastic change in the labor market.

Earlier this year, the ADP report for August showed a severe underperformance based on analyst’s expectations for that report, only to have the Bureau of Labor Statistics report strong employment growth for the month a few days later.

“The economic headwinds from the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to try to beat inflation means they are also intentionally slowing down the economy,” Dr. Anne York, an economist and program director at Meredith College told WRAL TechWire earlier this week in responding to the data in the weekly WRAL TechWire Jobs Report. “And it looks like they are starting to succeed in slowing down the economy, as shown by fewer job openings.”