Private Payrolls Beat Expectations With 135,000 Jobs in September

The American labor market kept cranking out new jobs in September.

Private companies hired 135,000 more workers in September, according to the monthly estimate from ADP and Moody’s Analytics. That was better than the 125,000 economists had forecast.

August’s figures were revised down from the extraordinary 195,000 initial report to a still strong 157,000.

Large firms added 67,000 to their payrolls in the month, according to the report. Medium-sized firms added 39,000. Small firms, with fewer than 50 employees, hired 30,000.

The ADP/Moody’s report is closely watched for indications of what the government will report in Friday’s monthly employment situation release. Economists expect the economy to have added 145,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.7 percent. Today’s ADP/Moody’s data is consistent with those estimates.