U.S. private payrolls rose by 239,000 in October, according to the payroll services firm ADP on Wednesday.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a gain of 195,000 private sector jobs.
This is stronger than the revised 192,000 in the prior month.
Job gains were concentrated in the service sector as goods producers pulled back from hiring, ADP said.
Medium-sized businesses had the largest job gains, rising 218,000. Small companies added 25,000 jobs while the largest firms shed 4,000 workers.
Pay growth eased again in October. Workers who stayed in their jobs saw pay gains of 7.7%, in line with recent months. Job changers saw annual pay growth of 15.2%, down from 15.7% in September.
ADP’s report comes two days before the closely watched monthly employment report issued by the Labor Department. ADP revised its methodology over the summer and says it does not try to forecast the government’s job report.
The U.S. labor market is cooling but not by much. Economists expect the Federal Reserve’s rapid pace of interest-rate hikes will ultimately lead to monthly job losses and a rising unemployment rate.
The estimate for the Friday report is growth of 205,000 jobs.