Automated Data Processing (ADP) said that manufacturing employment rose by 6,000 net employees in July. Over the past four months, there have been just 1,000 net new jobs added in the sector, a sharp contrast to the 81,000 workers added between December and March.

These figures have underestimated the official jobs figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which observed 152,000 net new manufacturing employees added between December and March. Since November, the sector has contributed 182,000 net new jobs in total. With that said, ADP definitely has the direction of the data pegged, with weaker job growth from April to June. BLS will release new jobs numbers on Friday, which are expected to show minimal growth in employment among manufacturers.

For the economy as a whole, ADP reported that there were 163,000 new nonfarm, private payrolls in July. This is somewhat slower than the 172,000 additional workers seen in June. The bulk of the job growth stemmed from the service sector, which contributed 148,000 of the net gains. Goods-producing firms, which include manufacturers, added 15,000.

Larger goods-producing firms (e.g. those with 500 or more employees) accounted for 7,000 of the 15,000 net new jobs. This deviates from past months, where small and/or medium-sized establishments generated the most net new employment. Still, looking at all nonfarm employment, small and medium-sized payrolls accounted for 85.9 percent of net job creation. 

Chad Moutray is chief economist, National Association of Manufacturers.

Automated Data Processing (ADP) reported this morning that manufacturing employment fell by 8,000 workers in October. This was the third consecutive quarter of declines. While other indicators suggest some areas of recent improvement, the ADP survey finds that this has not yet led to a resumption of job growth. Overall, total nonfarm employment rose by 110,000, almost entirely from increases in the service sector.

Aside from sectoral differences, these numbers also provide a contrast by establishment size. Small and medium-sized payrolls (e.g., those with less than 500 employees) generate the bulk of the net new jobs for both the goods-producing and service-providing sectors. Within the goods-producing sector (which includes manufacturing, mining and construction), medium-sized payrolls (e.g., those with 50 to 499 employees) saw a net increase of 6,000 workers; whereas, larger firms shed 10,000.

The ADP figures suggest that employment growth has been relatively modest, with manufacturing job growth being below par. A similar finding will probably be found in Friday’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. If we are to make significant inroads into improving our overall economy and job picture, manufacturing will need to play a vital role.

Chad Moutray is chief economist, National Association of Manufacturers.