Private Sector Adds Jobs at Unimpressive Rate

It could be worse

September looks like another mediocre month for job growth.

Private-sector employers added 162,000 jobs last month, according to a survey released Wednesday by payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. That doesn't bode well for the official monthly jobs report that will be issued Friday by the Labor Department.

ADP's surveys have overshot the government's tally by an average of about 50,000 in recent months. As such, economists largely stuck with their forecast for about 120,000 new jobs in September. That would be only a little better than the 96,000 added in August—and barely enough to absorb the growth in the workforce population. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 8.1%.