U.S. private employers added jobs at a fairly brisk clip in November, suggesting a slowing global economy is having a limited impact on domestic activity. The steady pace of hiring, however, has yet to translate into stronger wage growth. Other data on Wednesday showed sharp downward revisions to compensation in the second and third quarters, suggesting the Federal Reserve had room to maintain its low interest rate policy for a while.
The ADP National Employment Report showed private payrolls increased by 208,000 last month. While that was slightly below Wall Street's expectations for an increase of 221,000 jobs, October's payrolls were revised to show 3,000 more positions added than previously reported. Private employers have now added jobs for 57 straight months at an average rate of about 186,000 per month. In separate report, the Labor Department said unit labor costs, the price of labor for any given unit of production, fell at a 1.0 percent rate in the third quarter. They had previously been reported to have increased at a 0.3 percent pace. Unit labor costs for the second quarter were also revised down to show them declining at a steeper 3.7 percent rate instead of the previously reported 0.5 percent pace.
SOCIAL
-- Reuters