ADP: U.S. Private Sector Adds 135,000 Jobs in September

Hiring at private U.S. employers grew less than expected last month, according to a report Wednesday, as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma dented employment growth.

Firms across the country added 135,000 workers to their ranks in September, according to payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and forecasting firm Moody's Analytics. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 150,000 additional jobs.

The August gain in payrolls was revised down to 228,000 from 235,000. The ADP report is based on private-payroll data in addition to government data.

"In September, small businesses experienced a dip in hiring," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-leader of the ADP Research Institute. "This is in part due to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma which significantly impacted smaller retailers. In addition, the continued slow down we have seen in small business hiring could be due to a lack of competitive compensation to attract skilled talent."

The ADP report comes ahead of the monthly jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The BLS report is expected to show slower gains in employment. Economists expect nonfarm jobs to rise by 80,000 for September, compared with a gain of 156,000 the prior month.

Write to Bowdeya Tweh at Bowdeya.Tweh@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 04, 2017 09:10 ET (13:10 GMT)