U.S. private-sector firms hired at a much faster pace in November compared with the prior month, when job creation was slower than previously reported, the ADP payroll firm said Nov. 30.
U.S. businesses added 216,000 jobs, far surpassing the 160,000 consensus estimate and the biggest jump since June.
Hiring in October was revised down to 119,000 from the 147,000 initially reported.
The November jump in hiring could reflect companies getting ready for the busy holiday shopping season: 228,000 were hired in the services sector.
However, jobs in the goods-producing sector fell, almost entirely because of the 10,000 drop in manufacturing.
"This growth was seen in primarily consumer-driven industries like retail and, leisure and hospitality -- across all company sizes,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, head of the ADP Research Institute.
"Overall, consumers are feeling confident and are driving the strong performance we currently see in the job market," he said.
The data comes just two days before the keenly watched monthly Labor Department employment report for November, which is expected to show a gain of 180,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the consensus forecast.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, said, "Businesses hired aggressively in November and there is little evidence that the uncertainty surrounding the presidential election dampened hiring.
"In addition, because of the tightening labor market, retailers may be accelerating seasonal hiring to secure an adequate workforce to meet holiday demand, although total expected seasonal hiring may be no higher than last year's."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2016
