WASHINGTON — U.S. private payrolls growth increased further in October, the ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday, with private employers adding 86,000 jobs last month.
Private employment rose by 86,000 jobs in October after a downwardly revised 86,000 gain in September, which ADP had previously reported as 90,000. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment increasing by 69,000.
Services accounted for almost all of the gain, adding 82,000 jobs, while goods-producing industries added just 4,000. Trade, transportation and utilities led with 39,000 new jobs, education and health services added 28,000, and leisure and hospitality added 19,000. Construction employers added 13,000 jobs, making construction the only goods-producing industry to grow.
Against those gains, professional and business services lost 27,000 jobs, the third consecutive monthly decline in that category, and information lost 2,000 jobs. ADP chief economist Nela Richardson noted that employers of all sizes were hiring and that job changers were attracted by a combination of bonuses, overtime and more hours in addition to higher base pay.
Pay gains were little changed. Base pay for private-sector workers rose 3.2% from a year earlier, while gross pay was up 4.7%, according to ADP Pay Insights. The ADP report, produced with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab from payroll data covering more than 26 million U.S. private-sector workers, landed two days before the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes its official October employment report on Friday.
