Private-Sector Hiring Surges Ahead of Expectations in October

While employers have cut job openings, they did nothing to slow private sector hiring in October.

The ADP National Employment Report showed that private sector employers added 233,000 jobs in October. This was more than double the number of 113,000 people surveyed by economists The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires We expect to see over 159,000 appointments reported in September.

ADP said this was the highest level of private sector employment since July 2023. The growth came despite economists’ expectations that recent storms and labor strikes could impact the data this month.

“Even with the hurricane recovery, job growth was strong in October,” said Nella Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “As we approach the end of the year, US employment has proven to be broadly strong and resilient.”

The hiring increase comes ahead of a closely watched jobs report

The results come ahead of the US jobs report expected on Friday, which will be one of the last economic data before the presidential election on November 5 next week.

Economists expect the report to show slowing job creation, due in part to the effects of Hurricanes Helen and Milton and a Boeing (BA) workers’ strike.

The jobs report will also interest Federal Reserve officials, who said they are monitoring the labor market closely as they evaluate whether to cut interest rates further. The central bank’s policy-making committee will meet next week after the elections.

The report follows the Job Opportunities and Labor Turnover Survey released earlier this week, which showed that employers in September listed the fewest job openings in three years.