ADP infographic of jobs growth, October 2014Small business employment increased by 102,000 jobs from September to October according to the month’s ADP Small Business Report. ADP describes small businesses as those with less than 50 employees. In addition to the small business jobs growth, midsized* businesses (50-499 employees) added 122,000 and large companies (500+ employees) added 5,000.

Altogether, private businesses added 230,000 jobs during the month. This beat economists’ predictions by 10,000 jobs, according to the median forecast in Action Economics’ survey.

“The job market is steadily picking up pace,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which helps ADP compile the report. “Job growth is strong and broad-based across industries and company sizes,” he told USA Today.

Other recent positive economic indicators:

  • Initial jobless claims continue to trend down.
  • The Commerce Dept. announced last week the economy grew a better-than expected 3.5% in the third-quarter
  • Manufacturing activity is growing solidly
  • Consumer confidence hit a seven-year high last month

*As noted before, the term “midsized business” is a term used by marketers but for which there is no statutory meaning.

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