Private employers add 86,000 jobs in October, ADP says
Hiring matches September's revised gain, with services doing most of the work and business services losing jobs.
U.S. private employers added 86,000 jobs in October, matching September's downwardly revised gain, payroll processor ADP reported Wednesday. September's increase was previously estimated at 90,000.
The headline points to steady rather than accelerating hiring. Service providers added 82,000 jobs, while goods-producing employers added 4,000. Trade, transportation and utilities led the gains with 39,000 jobs, followed by education and health services with 28,000.
The gains were uneven. Professional and business services lost 27,000 jobs, marking a third straight monthly decline in that sector, while information businesses shed 2,000. Manufacturing employment fell by 1,000, even as construction added 13,000.
Pay growth also tells different stories depending on what is counted. Median base pay rose 3.2% from a year earlier, while gross pay, which can include bonuses and overtime, increased 4.7%, according to ADP. Job-changers saw stronger gross-pay growth than workers who stayed in their jobs.
The report gives investors an early private-sector reading before Friday's government employment report. It is a separate measure, not a preview that guarantees the government's result. The next question is whether the broader report shows the same mix of modest job growth and uneven industry demand.
