The slowdown in private job growth was the latest signal that the labor market had taken a step back in recent months and the clearest indication yet that a 16-day federal government shutdown weighed on the economy.
The Fed’s policy makers stuck to their monthly $85 billion bond-buying pace at the end of a two-day meeting on Wednesday and said fiscal policy was restraining economic growth.
Employers in the private sector added 130,000 jobs to their payrolls this month, the ADP National Employment Report showed. That was the lowest reading since April and was below economists’ expectations for a gain of 150,000 jobs.
It was the fourth consecutive month that private jobs growth slowed, according to the ADP. “The government shutdown and debt limit brinkmanship hurt the already softening job market in October,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, a joint developer of the report.
While the ADP data does not have a good track record of predicting the government’s more comprehensive monthly count of payrolls, it suggested that the October employment report would find weakness as well. The government is scheduled to release that report on Nov. 8. In September, nonfarm payrolls rose 148,000, with the unemployment rate hitting a near-five-year low of 7.2 percent.
But if average monthly jobs growth continued at less than 150,000, where it has been over the last three months, it would be difficult for the unemployment rate to fall further.
In a separate report, the Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index increased 0.2 percent last month as rising energy prices offset an unchanged reading in food costs. The index edged up 0.1 percent in August.
In the 12 months through September, consumer prices increased 1.2 percent, the smallest 12-month gain since April.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/business/economy/lackluster-economic-reports-underscore-feds-stand-pat-decision.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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