US private payrolls rebound in October, ADP report says

US private payrolls rebounded sharply in October, the ADP employment report showed on Wednesday.

Private employment increased by 42,000 jobs last month after an upwardly revised 29,000 decline in September.

Economists had forecast private employment rebounding by 28,000 jobs after a previously reported 32,000 drop in September. The ADP report is jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

The monthly estimate has historically diverted from the government payrolls count produced by the Labour Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Even with the BLS’ closely watched employment report delayed again because of the longest government shutdown on record, economists continued to urge caution when interpreting the ADP report, noting differences in methodologies among other limitations.

“The ADP data is limited to the private-sector businesses that rely on ADP to manage their payrolls needs, making the ADP data less nationally representative,” said Matthew Martin, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “The ADP employment data should be viewed as a complement, not a replacement, for the BLS employment establishment survey.”

The shutdown, now in its second month, delayed the September employment report, which was due on October 3. While that report could still be released when the government reopens, doubts are growing on whether the BLS would be able to produce the full October report because of the suspension of data collection.

The October employment report was scheduled for release on Friday. The White House warned last month that October’s consumer inflation report might not be published for the first time ever because of the shutdown.