U.S. private sector payrolls increased by the most in eight months in October, suggesting overall job growth accelerated this month after Hurricane Florence weighed on restaurant and retail employment in September.
This story by Lucia Mutikani originally appeared in Reuters.
The strong jobs market is gradually putting upward pressure on compensation, with other data on Wednesday showing a solid increase in labor costs in the third quarter. Labor market strength is expected to underpin economic growth despite weak housing, slowing business investment and stock market turmoil.
“The economy is in great shape with lots of jobs and more money in workers’ paychecks and this should help bolster the outlook as the financial markets stumble,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York.
The ADP national employment report showed private sector employment rose by 227,000 jobs last month, the biggest gain since February and beating economists’ expectations for an increase of 189,000. September’s payrolls count was revised down to 218,000 from 230,000.
