Private sector employment up 86,000 jobs in October, earnings growth highest in two years: report

Employment in the private sector increased by 86,000 jobs in October, according to a report released Wednesday by payroll processing firm ADP. 

Base pay for private-sector workers rose 3.2% and gross pay was up 4.7% year over year, the firm's pay data shows. 

The employment report is a measure of the labor market based on anonymized weekly payroll data of more than 26 million private-sector employees in the U.S.

"Employers of all sizes were hiring last month, and our data suggests that job-changers were lured by a combination of bonuses, overtime, and more hours in addition to higher base pay. Taken together, earnings growth for these workers hit its fastest pace since March 2024," Nela Richardson, chief economist for ADP, said in a statement.