It’s a good thing the trade narrative improved on Wednesday, otherwise stocks might have stumbled even harder prior to the cash open on Wall Street.
The macro hasn’t cooperated this week and ADP was no exception, printing a truly disappointing 67k for November. That’s the lowest since May.
Ostensibly, that doesn’t bode well for the jobs report later this week. Consensus was looking for 135k, and the range was 120k-190k, making this an out-and-out whiff.
The goods producing sector shed 18k positions, evenly spread across mining, construction and manufacturing. Services jobs increased by 85k.
“In November, the labor market showed signs of slowing”, Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute remarked, adding that “small companies continued to face more pressure than their larger competitors”.
Mark Zandi didn’t mince words. “The job market is losing its shine. Manufacturers, commodity producers, and retailers are shedding jobs”, he said. “Job openings are declining and if job growth slows any further unemployment will increase”.
