LOS ANGELES, November 6, 2026 – The employment machine in America did not come to a halt last month; it simply shifted gears. Private employers created 86,000 new positions, matching the revised figures for September and surpassing expectations of 75,000, while the growth rate of the services sector weakened to its lowest in three months.
These numbers, reported on November 4 by payroll processor ADP, revealed that job creation was not limited to any particular industry segment; however, the composition of these figures reveals a much more complicated picture: trade, transport, and utility sectors provided 39,000 jobs; education and health services provided 28,000; and leisure and hospitality added 19,000.
Where hiring cooled
There was a loss of 27,000 jobs in professional and business services and 8,000 jobs in natural resources and mining. Information services, an industry that economists keep an eye on due to the artificial intelligence investment boom, lost 2,000 jobs.
This brings up a rather awkward question. Is artificial intelligence replacing workers, or are companies holding off hiring as they rearrange their operations? It’s impossible to know based on just one month of payroll data, but the drop stands out especially now, as companies are investing heavily in hardware and software.
Pay is moving
Those who changed their jobs had an increase of 4.8% in annual pay rates—the highest since March 2024, said ADP. Base pay went up by 3.2%, gross pay increased by 4.7%, while those who didn’t move had a 3% pay increase.
“Employers of all sizes were hiring last month,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist. She noted that job-changers were being pulled by bonuses, overtime, more hours, and higher base pay.
Services slow, productivity jumps
The services index of the Institute for Supply Management dropped by 0.4 points to 54.5% in October, which marked its weakest performance in three months. However, an index reading above 50 means expansion, and this means moderation and not contraction in a sector that accounts for most jobs in America.
In another report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the productivity of non-farm businesses grew at 3.6% in the third quarter, its fastest growth in a year. Productivity increased on the back of the fall in unit labour costs by 0.7%, the lowest since the second quarter of 2025.
What it means
Here’s the tension: more output is being generated using similar levels of manpower that can prevent inflation but might also be the reason why employment seems to be less exuberant compared to the growth figures. The number of hours worked in the quarter was 0.1%, whereas output grew by 3.7% annually.
The labour market is still holding steady. Initial unemployment claims fell last week to be equal to the lowest since 1969, whereas the number of job openings was also at a four-month high during the week.
For employees, the situation is ambivalent. There are available positions in sectors like logistics, healthcare, hospitality and even for movers. For companies, doing more with less is no longer a theory but rather a reality shown by productivity figures.
