U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in October, offering more evidence of labor market resilience and suggesting that the Federal Reserve could continue to aggressively raise interest rates for a while.
Private employment increased by 239,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment report showed on Wednesday. Data for September was revised down to show 192,000 jobs created instead of 208,000 as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast an increase of 195,000 private jobs.
The ADP report, jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, was published ahead of the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ more comprehensive and closely watched employment report for October on Friday.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, private payrolls likely rose by 200,000 jobs last month after rising by 288,000. With no job gains expected in the government sector, overall nonfarm payrolls are also forecast to have increased by 200,000. The economy created 263,000 jobs in September.
Though the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes are cooling demand, employers continue to seek workers.
The government reported on Tuesday that there were 10.7 million job openings at the end of September, with roughly 1.9 openings for every unemployed person.
The U.S. central bank is expected to deliver a fourth three-quarters of a percentage point interest rate hike on Wednesday as it fights to bring inflation down to its 2% target. The Fed has raised its benchmark overnight interest rate from near zero in March to the current range of 3.00% to 3.25%, the swiftest pace of policy tightening in a generation or more.
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