ADP report finds economy added 91,000 jobs in September

The economy added 91,000 jobs in the month of September, according to a leading private-sector report.

The findings from ADP Employer Services exceeded economist expectations, which generally anticipated the report would find companies adding roughly 75,000 jobs. But it is relatively flat from the previous month’s edition of the report.

The report serves as a precursor to Friday’s closely watched jobs report from the Labor Department. While ADP’s findings would suggest the government will report modest job growth, the two reports have varied significantly in recent months.

{mosads}For example, ADP reported last month that the economy added 91,000 jobs, only for the government to report two days later the economy added precisely zero jobs in the month of August.

However, ADP’s report only captures job changes in the private sector. The Labor Department’s data captures both private and public sector changes to employment.

Small businesses led the way in hiring, according to ADP’s findings, creating 60,000 new jobs in the 22nd straight month of growth for that sector of the economy.

The report also found a major gap in the jobs available in service-based industries versus goods-producing ones. The service sector added nearly all the new jobs cited in the report, while the goods-producing sector added just 1,000 jobs. Large companies producing goods actually trimmed 8,000 jobs in September.

And ADP singled out the manufacturing sector, finding it cut 5,000 jobs in the last month. On the other side of the spectrum, business services, education and healthcare and leisure companies reported the strongest job growth.