(Oct 30): Hiring at US companies accelerated by the most in more than a year, pointing to surprisingly solid demand for workers.

Private payrolls increased by 233,000 in October and September was revised higher, according to the ADP Research Institute. That exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Manufacturing was the only sector to lose jobs, while education and health services, as well as trade and transportation posted some of the strongest advances.

The ADP figures suggest the labour market remained healthy during a month when the Southeast was hit by two hurricanes and thousands of Boeing Co workers were on strike.

“Even amid hurricane recovery, job growth was strong in October,” Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said in a statement. “Hiring at US companies accelerated sharply in October with the strongest payrolls gain in over a year, highlighting surprisingly strong labour demand.”

A separate report Wednesday showed the US economy expanded at an inflation-adjusted annualised pace of 2.8% in the third quarter. Treasury yields and the dollar rose after the ADP figures and GDP data.

Wage growth slowed to paces last seen in 2021. Workers who changed jobs saw a 6.2% increase in pay, and those for workers who stayed saw a 4.6% gain in ADP data published Wednesday in collaboration with Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Job gains were strongest in the South. Among size categories, employers with at least 500 workers added the most new positions.

ADP bases its findings on payrolls covering more than 25 million US private-sector employees. The data have historically been less sensitive to natural disasters and strikes than the government’s monthly employment report, which is due Friday, according to Goldman Sachs economists.

Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja