Report: Burst of New Job Creation Led By Small Businesses

Private companies added more jobs than expected in November, with smaller firms creating 94 percent of new jobs

Private companies created 206,000 new jobs in November. That’s nearly 70,000 more than economists initially forecast, and about 70,000 more than were created last month, according to a report from ADP and Macroeconomic Advisers, a business consulting firm. Entrepreneurs played a starring role in that impressive burst of hiring, with small and medium-size businesses contributing 94 percent of the new jobs. Businesses with fewer than 100 employees added 110,000 positions, while those with between 100 and 500 employees created 84,000 new jobs. Large firms—those with 500 employees or more—added just 12,000, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The ADP report comes follows a recent spate of generally good economic news. After a Thanksgiving weekend that saw record spending, The Conference Board announced yesterday that consumer confidence is up. Its monthly Consumer Confidence Index came in at 56.0, up from a two-year low of 40.9 in October. The Bureau of Labor Statistics plans to release its monthly hiring report Friday. That report measures both public and private jobs.

A recent report from HR consultancy Bersin & Associates concluded that small firms struggle to compete for employees against larger companies. Companies with more than 10,000 employees spend a median of $1,949 to recruit each new hire, The Journal reports, while small firms shell out $3,665 per hire. Larger firms tend to have the internal infrastructure to recruit talent, while smaller companies must outsource—a ‘very expensive’ tactic, Josh Bersin, chief executive and president of Bersin & Associates, told The Journal.