U.S. companies added just 67,000 jobs in November, a private survey found, barely half the gain of the previous month.
Payroll processor ADP said that manufacturers, construction firms and mining companies cut 18,000 jobs combined. Companies with fewer than 20 employees also slashed their payrolls.
November’s job gain is the fewest in six months and suggests that hiring could be weakening, economists said. Yet job gains frequently fluctuate from month-to-month, so last month’s meager increase could also be a one-time blip.
It typically takes roughly 100,000 or so new jobs a month to absorb population growth and keep the unemployment rate from rising. If November’s modest increase were to continue, the jobless rate could rise from its currently very low level of 3.6%.
“The weakness in the ADP report does not guarantee a disappointment in the upcoming (government) data,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan.
But Silver said that the disappointing ADP report “is supportive of our view that the trend in job growth has downshifted lately.”
Nuclear Regulatory Commission OKs transfers from bankrupt utility
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the transfer of operating licenses for the Beaver Valley Units 1 and 2, Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants and associated spent fuel storage installation facilities from FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company and FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation Company to Energy Harbor Corp., Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC and Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp., after completion of bankruptcy proceedings for FirstEnergy Solutions. The FirstEnergy companies requested the transfer as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
The transfer will become effective upon completion of the bankruptcy and the formation of Energy Harbor Corp., which will wholly own Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC and Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp. Beaver Valley Units 1 and 2 are pressurized-water reactors located approximately 17 miles west of McCandless, Pa. The units are scheduled to permanently shut down in May 2021 and October 2021, respectively. Davis-Besse is a pressurized-water reactor located southeast of Toledo, Ohio, and is licensed to operate through April 2037. Perry is a boiling-water reactor located approximately 35 miles northeast of Cleveland and is licensed to operate through March 2026.
NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said the NRC staff’s review of the license transfer application concluded that Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC is financially qualified to own Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse, and Perry, and that Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp. is financially and technically qualified to operate the plants.
UAW vice president admits corruption
A retired vice president at the United Auto Workers pleaded guilty Wednesday to corruption charges, admitting he received a $250,000 kickback after arranging a contract for 58,000 watches.
Joe Ashton led the union’s General Motors department until July 2014 and also had a seat on the automaker’s board.
Ten people with ties to the UAW have been charged in the corruption investigation; eight have pleaded guilty, including the widow of a union vice president. Separately, three people who worked at Fiat Chrysler have been convicted.
Ashton, 71, of Ocean View, New Jersey, appeared in Detroit federal court. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and faces roughly three years in prison when he’s sentenced on March 3.
Ashton declined to comment. He awarded a $3.9 million contract from the UAW-GM training center for thousands of watches that remain in storage.
“He has asked me to apologize to all the members of the UAW. Good people make really bad decisions. He fully accepts responsibility,” defense attorney Jerry Ballarotto told reporters.