US private sector sheds 250,000 jobs in November: report

Employment in the private sector fell 250,000 in the US in November following a revised decrease of 179,000 jobs in October according to an employment report released by payroll giant Automatic Data Processing and Macroeconomic Advisers.

Economists had projected a loss of 200,000 jobs compared to the decrease of 157,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

According to the report, non farm private employment decreased 250,000 from October to November. The estimated change in employment from September to October was revised down from a decrease of 157,000 to a decrease of 179,000.

November's ADP National Employment Report offers evidence of a labor market that continues to weaken.

This month's employment loss was again driven by the goods-producing sector which declined 158,000 during November, its twenty-fourth consecutive monthly decline.

The manufacturing sector marked its twenty-seventh consecutive monthly decline, losing 118,000 jobs. These losses were compounded by an employment decline in the service-providing sector of the economy which fell by 92,000, the second monthly loss in the service-providing sector.

Large businesses, defined as those with 500 or more workers, saw employment decline 41,000, while medium-size companies with between 50 and 499 workers declined 130,000.

Employment among small-size businesses, defined as those with less than 50 workers, declined 79,000. This is the second consecutive monthly decline in small business since November of 2002.

Falling employment at medium and small firms clearly indicates that the recession has now spread well beyond manufacturing and housing-related activities.

In November, construction employment dropped 44,000. This was its twenty-fourth consecutive monthly decline, and brings the total decline in construction jobs since the peak in August of 2006 to 521,000.

Economists expect the Labor Department's report to show 325,000 jobs lost in November, making it to the eleventh consecutive month of job losses.

The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 6.8 per cent from 6.5 per cent in the previous month.