U.S. Hiring Beats Forecasts As Private Payrolls Surge By 233,000 In October

U.S. private payrolls growth surged in October, despite fears of temporary disruptions from hurricanes and strikes.

Private payrolls increased by 233,000 jobs last month after rising by an upwardly revised 159,000 in September, the ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment increasing by 114,000 positions after a previously reported gain of 143,000 in September.

The ADP report, jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, was published ahead of Friday’s more comprehensive and closely watched employment report for October from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There is not much correlation between the ADP and BLS employment report. Initial ADP prints have mostly understated private payroll growth this year.

Employment growth last month was likely temporarily held back by Hurricanes Helene and Milton as well as strikes by factory workers in the aerospace industry.

Private payrolls likely increased by 90,000 jobs in October after rising 223,000 in September, a Reuters survey of economists showed. With further gains anticipated in government employment, nonfarm payrolls are estimated to have increased by 115,000 jobs last month after advancing 254,000 in September.

The unemployment rate is forecast to stay unchanged at 4.1%.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, Editing by Nick Zieminski)