Employment in the US private sector rose by an estimated 113,000 jobs in October, a steady gain that could continue to propel consumer spending, according to new data released Wednesday by payroll processor ADP.
ADP’s latest National Employment Report also showed that annual pay was up 5.7%.
“No single industry dominated hiring this month, and big post-pandemic pay increases seem to be behind us,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist of ADP, in a statement.
The resilience of the nation’s labor market has helped keep spending afloat, economists have said.
Last month’s tally represented an increase in hiring from September, when ADP reported a net gain of only 89,000 jobs, landing far below economists’ expectations for a 153,000-job increase.
The October private-sector job growth also landed well below what economists had anticipated: The consensus forecast on Refinitiv was for private-sector employers to hire an additional 150,000 workers.
While ADP’s tabulations don’t always correlate with the official federal jobs report — due out Friday — it’s sometimes viewed as a proxy for overall hiring activity.
Economists expect that the BLS jobs report for October will be a more moderate — but still strong — increase of 180,000 jobs, according to Refinitiv estimates.
