Jobs continue to dwindle in November

The U.S. economy shed 250,000 private-sector jobs in November in the latest sign that the recession is pummeling the job market, according to the monthly ADP National Employment Report released today. Large businesses — those that have at least 500 employees on the payroll — shed 41,000 jobs, and midsize businesses lost 130,000 jobs in November. Small businesses — those that employ fewer than 50 workers — cut 79,000 jobs. Goods-producing industries, which include manufacturers and construction companies, fared worst in November, losing 158,000 jobs. Service providers cut 92,000 workers, while 44,000 jobs were cut from the construction industry. "Falling employment at medium and small firms clearly indicates that the recession has now spread well beyond manufacturing and housing-related activities," Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, said in a statement. The St. Louis-based company jointly produces the jobs data with Roseland, N.J.- based Automatic Data Processing Inc. The ADP report comes two days before the Department of Labor is scheduled to release its monthly numbers for U.S payrolls. In another piece of gloomy news, non-manufacturing sectors of the economy contracted at a record pace in November, according to a report by the Institute for Supply Management of Tempe, Ariz. The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to a reading of 37.3, from 44.4 in October, as 17 out of 18 industries reported a contraction. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting the index to fall to 42.7. Readings under 50 denote that the industry is contracting.