Private Employers Added 86,000 Jobs in October as Hiring Picked Up

The job market showed fresh signs of life last month. According to Fox Business, the payroll processing company ADP reported on November 4 that private employers added 86,000 jobs in October. That was more than the 69,000 that forecasters had expected, and it matched a revised figure for the month before.

Hiring was not even across the board. Trade, transportation and utilities led the way with about 39,000 new jobs, followed by education and health services with 28,000 and leisure and hospitality with 19,000. Professional and business services lost jobs on the month. The mix matters for older workers, since health care remains one of the steadiest sources of hiring and employs many people in their 50s and 60s.

On pay, ADP's chief economist, Nela Richardson, said earnings growth for people who changed jobs reached its fastest pace since early 2024. Steady wage gains can help workers trying to add to savings in their final working years, though they can also keep upward pressure on some prices.

This ADP report comes from a private company and counts only private sector jobs. The government's official employment report, from the Labor Department, is due Friday morning and will give a fuller picture, including the unemployment rate. Forecasters expect it to show a more modest gain, in the range of 65,000 jobs, with unemployment holding near 4.2 percent.

For readers near or in retirement, these numbers are worth watching for a few reasons. A healthy job market supports the wider economy and the retirement accounts tied to it. It also shapes what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates, which affects the return on savings accounts and certificates of deposit as well as the cost of borrowing. And for the growing number of people working past 65, a steadier labor market can mean more chances to stay on the job or return to part time work.