Private Payrolls Rose 86,000 in October, Beating Forecasts as Professional Services Cut Jobs for a Third Month

U.S. private employers added 86,000 jobs in October, beating forecasts in a second straight month of solid hiring.

The report comes from ADP, a payroll processor that tracks pay for millions of workers. Its monthly count is an independent measure of private hiring. It is built from weekly payroll records for more than 26 million employees.

ADP Research produces the report with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The October release arrived Wednesday morning. It covers private employers only, not government jobs.

A beat that matched September's revised pace

Forecasters had expected a gain of 69,000 jobs in October. The consensus figure comes from FXStreet's post-release report. The actual gain cleared that mark by 17,000 jobs. That margin is a TickerGrove calculation from the two reported figures.

September's gain was first reported at 90,000 jobs. ADP revised it down to 86,000 jobs in this release. October therefore matched September's revised pace exactly, a TickerGrove calculation.

Services carried the month

Service-providing employers added 82,000 jobs in October. Goods-producing employers added just 4,000 jobs. The month's growth therefore sat almost entirely in services.

Trade, transportation and utilities led services with 39,000 jobs. Education and health services added 28,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 19,000 jobs, and financial activities added 15,000.

Other services added 10,000 jobs. Information was the only other services category to shrink. It lost 2,000 jobs in October.

Professional services kept shrinking

Professional and business services lost 27,000 jobs in October. ADP said the sector lost jobs for the third straight month. That streak is the report's clearest weak spot.

Construction added 13,000 jobs on the goods side. Natural resources and mining lost 8,000 jobs. Manufacturing lost 1,000 jobs, leaving goods-producing hiring nearly flat overall.

Hiring reached every size of employer

Small establishments added 28,000 jobs in October. Medium establishments added 33,000 jobs. Large establishments added 24,000 jobs, ADP reported.

"Employers of all sizes were hiring last month," said Dr. Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist. She said job-changers were lured by bonuses, overtime and more hours. Higher base pay played a part as well.

The South added 47,000 jobs, the largest regional gain. ADP reported gains in every major region. The West added 28,000 jobs, and the Midwest added 9,000.

Pay growth held steady

Median base pay rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier. Gross pay rose 4.7 percent over the same period. ADP described base pay growth as little changed in October.

Base pay rose 3.0 percent for workers who stayed in their jobs. It rose 4.8 percent for job-changers. Gross pay rose 4.4 percent for stayers and 7.6 percent for changers.

Richardson said earnings growth for job-changers hit its fastest pace since March 2024. She tied that pace to bonuses, overtime and extra hours. Base pay alone does not explain the jump.

What remains unknown

What remains unknown starts with the official count. ADP counts private payrolls from its own client records. The government survey covers a different universe, using different methods.

The two reports can therefore diverge in any given month. ADP is an imperfect guide to the government's payroll figure. Friday's report will show whether October hiring was this firm.

It is also unknown whether professional services keeps shrinking. A third monthly loss could reflect one sector cooling. It could also be an early sign of wider white-collar softness.

What to watch next

What to watch next is the government jobs report on Friday, November 6. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal statistics agency, releases it at 8:30 a.m. ET. It includes government jobs that ADP excludes.

Watch the ISM Services report for October, due today at 10:00 a.m. ET. ISM surveys service-sector purchasing managers each month. No result for that report exists yet.

Watch the next ADP report as well. It is scheduled for December 2, 2026, at 8:15 a.m. ET. Revisions to October will show how firm this first reading was.