Private employers in the US shed the largest number of jobs in two-and-ahalf years in September, according to unofficial data that investors are relying on because of the government shutdown.
Private sector employment fell by 32,000 last month, payroll processing group ADP said, confounding economists’ expectations for an extra 50,000 roles and triggering a rally in Treasuries.
The US government shut down for the first time in nearly seven years early yesterday, tipping Washington into one of the biggest political crises of President Donald Trump’s second term.
The closure is expected to result in the furlough of around 750,000 workers and could cost the US economy billions of dollars’ worth of lost output after Republicans and Democrats failed to strike an agreement to fund the federal government into the new fiscal year.
