ADP: Private Employers Added 86,000 Jobs in October

What the report shows

ADP reported Wednesday that private payrolls grew by 86,000 in October, the same count as September after a downward revision, and a bit higher than the 75,000 economists expected in the Dow Jones survey.

Most of the hiring came from service industries. Within services, trade, transportation and utilities accounted for 39,000 positions, education and health services contributed 28,000, and leisure and hospitality hired 19,000. There were increases of 15,000 in financial activities, 13,000 in construction, and 10,000 in other services. Offsetting that, professional and business services cut 27,000 jobs, natural resources and mining declined by 8,000, and information services slipped by 2,000 - a category that could be influenced by the ongoing artificial intelligence buildout.

Pay, quits, and who was hiring

Wage growth continued. Workers who switched employers saw a 4.8% annual pay increase, overall base pay rose 3.2%, gross pay climbed 4.7%, and pay for those who stayed in their jobs increased 3%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday that quits reached their highest level since March 2025, a sign of still-solid labor mobility.

"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. "Taken together, earnings growth for these workers hit its fastest pace since March 2024."

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Why it matters for payrolls due Friday

Hiring was broad by company size: mid-sized firms with 50 to 499 workers added 33,000 jobs, large employers added 24,000, and small businesses expanded headcount by 28,000. ADP's release lands just ahead of Friday's BLS nonfarm payrolls report, where economists polled by Dow Jones expect October to show a 59,000 increase after September's 29,000 rise. The bottom line: this mix of steady hiring and moderate wage gains shapes how rates, risk appetite, and your portfolio may react to the government's jobs print.

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