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Private sector hiring held steady in October as companies added 86,000 jobs, offering fresh evidence that the labor market was stabilizing. The total matched September’s downwardly revised figure and exceeded the Dow Jones estimate of 75,000.

ADP released the employment report Wednesday, showing that hiring gains extended across several parts of the economy. Service sector employers supplied most of the growth, while losses in professional services, mining and information limited the overall increase.

Trade, transportation and utilities led all sectors by adding 39,000 positions during October. Education and health services followed with 28,000 new jobs, while leisure and hospitality businesses contributed another 19,000.

Financial activities also posted a notable increase, adding 15,000 jobs during the month. Construction employers expanded payrolls by 13,000, while the category covering other services added 10,000 positions.

The broader gains were partially offset by a sharp decline in professional and business services. That sector shed 27,000 jobs, making it the largest source of employment losses listed in the ADP report.

Natural resources and mining recorded a loss of 8,000 jobs. Information services, described as a sector potentially affected by the artificial intelligence buildout, reduced employment by 2,000 positions.

Hiring was not confined to companies of one particular size. Employers with between 50 and 499 workers led the expansion by adding 33,000 jobs, while small firms increased their payrolls by 28,000.

Large businesses added another 24,000 positions during October. Taken together, the figures showed that employers of different sizes continued to hire even as the total level of private job creation remained unchanged from September.

Pay data supplied another sign of movement within the labor market. Workers who changed jobs recorded a 4.8% annual increase, with bonuses, overtime, additional hours and higher base pay contributing to their earnings growth.

“Employers of all sizes were hiring last month, and our data suggests that job-changers were lured by a combination of bonuses, overtime, and more hours in addition to higher base pay,” said ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson.

Richardson added, “Taken together, earnings growth for these workers hit its fastest pace since March 2024.” The acceleration for workers switching employers came as job quitting, a measure of labor market mobility, reached its highest level since March 2025.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Tuesday showed the increase in the number of people leaving their jobs voluntarily. The ADP figures indicated that workers willing to make a move were securing stronger annual earnings gains than those remaining with their employers.

Workers overall received a 3.2% gain in base pay, while gross pay climbed 4.7% from a year earlier. Employees who stayed in their existing jobs saw pay rise 3%, trailing the increase recorded by workers who changed employers.

The ADP report arrives before the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes its October nonfarm payrolls count Friday. ADP’s private payroll estimate does not include the government employment figures that will be part of the federal report.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics report to show that the economy added 59,000 jobs in October. That would follow September’s modest gain of 29,000 positions.

October’s private sector reading therefore came in 11,000 jobs above the Dow Jones forecast for the ADP report. Even with the better result, private hiring did not accelerate from September because the prior month’s total was revised downward to the same 86,000 level.

The report presented a labor market with continued hiring, broad participation among company sizes and stronger gains for workers changing jobs. At the same time, the losses in professional and business services showed that employment growth remained uneven across industries.

DISCLAIMER: GoldInvestors.news is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or broker/dealer. All investment/financial opinions expressed by GoldInvestors.news are from the personal research and experience of the owner of the site and are intended as educational material. Although best efforts are made to ensure that all information is accurate and up to date, occasionally unintended errors and misprints may occur.