U.S. private employers added 135,000 jobs in September, topping economists` expectations even as Hurricane Harvey and Irma "significantly impacted smaller retailers," a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.
The September reading was smallest increase since October 2016.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 125,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from a decrease of 25,000 jobs to a gain of 206,000.
Private payroll gains in the month earlier were revised down to 228,000 from an originally reported 237,000 increase.
The report is jointly developed with Moody`s Analytics.
The ADP figures come ahead of the U.S. Labor Department`s more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which includes both public and private-sector employment.
Economists polled by Reuters are looking for U.S. private payroll employment to have grown by 83,000 jobs in September, down from a gain of 165,000 the month before. Total non-farm employment is expected to have increased by 90,000.
The unemployment rate is forecast to stay steady at the 4.4 percent recorded a month earlier.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
06:22 PM IST