Instant View: private sector adds 162,000 jobs in September - ADP

Private employers added 162,000 jobs in September, topping economists' expectations, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

COMMENTS:

SCOTT BROWN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, RAYMOND JAMES, ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA

"This is a big enough of surprise that it might influence expectations for Friday's payroll report. There's pretty good growth among smaller firms. There are improvements in construction and autos. This is consistent with a moderate pace of job growth and we still haven't made much headway with the losses during the downturn. We would like to see growth on the order of 200,000 to 250,000. We are still facing headwinds from the fiscal cliff and Europe."

FRED DICKSON, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, D.A. DAVIDSON & CO. LAKE OSWEGO, OREGON

"ADP and the monthly non-farm payroll numbers have been tracking apart for several months. Slightly better, we'll see what happens on Friday, given the spreads in recent months it's kind of hard to draw any definitive conclusion that Friday's number is going to be better than expected. It's a nice pointer but not a whole lot of weight (towards Friday's number)."

OMER ESINER, CHIEF STRATEGIST, COMMONWEALTH FOREIGN EXCHANGE, WASHINGTON

"A pretty good number. Not great but certainly better than expected. The main reaction appears to be in dollar/yen which is near highs of the session now. I am a little uncertain about what to do with euro/dollar given that the focus remains very much on Spain. Overall, the number is consistent with a slowly improving job market."

JOHN BRIGGS, DIRECTOR, MARKETS, RBS, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT

"At 162,000, the ADP employment report was pretty close to expectations, though the number has done terribly at predicting anything. I expect no reaction."

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: U.S. stock index futures added to their gains.

FOREX: The dollar edged higher versus the yen.

BONDS: U.S. Treasury debt prices held onto their earlier gains.

(Americas Economics and Markets Desk; +1-646 223-6300)