Private sector job creation rose to the highest level in more than a year in October, despite a devastating storm season in the Southeast and major labor disruptions, ADP reported Wednesday.
The payroll processing company said companies hired 233,000 new workers this month, better than the upwardly revised 159,000 in September and well above the Dow Jones estimate of 113,000. ADP said it was the best month for job creation since July 2023.
“Even during the hurricane recovery, job growth was strong in October,” said Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist. “As we close out the year, U.S. hiring appears to be robust and broadly resilient.”
The figures contradict expectations for a slowdown in growth in October due to two brutal hurricanes – Helene and Milton – that ravaged the Southeast, mainly affecting Florida and North Carolina.
In addition, there are labor disruptions among dock workers and Boeing This was expected to hit payrolls as well, with some economists suggesting October would be an outlier that Federal Reserve officials would largely reject at their meeting next week.
However, the ADP report shows that the labor market has held up. In addition to the increase in the workforce, wages increased by 4.6% compared to a year ago.
Moreover, the gains were widespread. Leading sectors included education and healthcare (53,000), trade, transport and utilities (51,000), construction, leisure and hospitality, which contributed 37,000 each, and professional and business services, which contributed 31,000.
Manufacturing was the only sector to report losses, down 19,000 over the past month, as Boeing's strike since September 13 has sidelined 33,000 of the company's workers.
Job creation was heavily concentrated in companies with 500 or more employees, which added 140,000 of the total. Companies with fewer than 50 employees were little changed, contributing only 4,000 employees to the total.
The ADP report traditionally includes the more closely tracked nonfarm payrolls from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That report, due Friday, is expected to show growth of just 100,000 people and an unemployment rate holding steady at 4.1%.
However, the ADP and BLS reports can differ significantly, with the latter including government officials. The BLS report showed a private employment increase of 223,000 in September and total wage growth of 254,000.