NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private employers added 213,000 jobs in September, just above economists' expectations, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 210,000 jobs.
"Job gains remain strong and steady," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, which co-develops the report.
"Especially encouraging most recently is the increasingly broad base nature of those gains," he said in a press release. "Nearly all industries and companies of all sizes are adding consistently to payrolls."
The numbers came ahead of September data on the U.S. manufacturing sector, with separate reports due at 9:45 a.m. EDT and 10 a.m., and a reading on construction spending due also at 10 a.m.
In the ADP report, August private payrolls were revised down to 202,000 from the previously reported 204,000. September was the sixth consecutive month the figure came in above 200,000.
"It's still suggesting the job market is improving but there is still a lot of slack remaining," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.
"It doesn't add a lot to expectations for Friday's payroll number."
The ADP figures come ahead of the government's more comprehensive payrolls report due Friday, which includes both public and private sector employment. That report is expected to show the U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs last month.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos and Richard Leong; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)