Payroll survey: Solid job gains in November

WASHINGTON – U.S. businesses hired at a solid pace last month, according to a private survey, a signal that Friday’s November jobs report from the government will likely also show strength.

Payroll processer ADP said Wednesday that companies added 208,000 jobs in November, the third straight month that hiring has topped 200,000. The figures suggest that businesses remain confident enough in the economy and their customer demand to add workers despite sluggish growth overseas.

The report “adds to the evidence that employment growth remains solid,” said Jim O’Sullivan, an economist at High Frequency Economics, a forecasting firm.

The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and sometimes diverge from the government’s more comprehensive jobs report, which includes government agencies.

Economists have forecast that the government’s figures will show employers added 225,000 jobs in November, according to a survey by financial data provider FactSet. The unemployment rate is expected to decline to 5.7 percent from 5.8 percent.

The job gains in the ADP survey were broadly distributed: Construction companies added 17,000, though that was down from 27,000 in October. Manufacturers added 11,000, slightly below the previous month’s total. A category that includes retail, transportation and utility companies gained a robust 49,000 jobs, possibly reflecting hiring ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees accounted for nearly half the job gain for the second straight month.

Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president of the ADP Research Institute, said banks are lending more freely to small businesses, enabling them to hire more.