Wall Street opened flat on Wednesday after a drop in tech stocks the day before, which was partly due to concerns about high stock prices. However, a strong jobs report from ADP helped ease fears about a weak job market.
At the opening, Dow Jones went up by 12.1 points (0.03%) to 47,097.31. The S&P 500 fell slightly by 1.8 points (0.03%) to 6,769.77, while the Nasdaq rose by 9.4 points (0.04%) to 23,358.075.
Private companies added more jobs than expected in October, indicating that the labour market remains resilient, according to a report from ADP on Wednesday.
ADP said businesses created 42,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a loss of 29,000 in September and surpassing the Dow Jones forecast of a 22,000 increase. The firm also revised September’s data to show 3,000 fewer job losses than previously reported.
The largest job gains came from the trade, transportation, and utilities sector, which added 47,000 positions. Education and health services contributed 26,000 new jobs, while financial activities added another 11,000.
In contrast, information services lost 17,000 positions. Other sectors posting declines included professional and business services (-15,000), other services (-13,000), and manufacturing (-3,000), which continues to struggle despite President Donald Trump’s tariffs designed to boost US factory employment.
All of October’s job growth came from large employers with at least 250 workers, which collectively added 76,000 jobs. Smaller companies, however, cut 34,000 positions.
Wages continued to rise in October despite modest hiring. Pay for workers who stayed in their jobs rose 4.5% from a year earlier, matching September’s pace, while job changers saw a 6.7% increase, slightly higher than the previous month.
On average, ADP’s data shows that private-sector job growth has been around 60,000 per month this year, though hiring has slowed considerably in the latter half of 2025.
The ADP report is typically released on the first Wednesday of each month, just ahead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ official nonfarm payrolls data.
However, due to the ongoing government shutdown, the BLS has suspended its data collection and reports, making ADP’s numbers the primary gauge of recent labour market trends.