Companies added more workers than projected in September,evidence the labor market may be perking up, a private report basedon payrolls showed.

The 162,000 increase in employment followed a revised 189,000jump in August, figures from Roseland, New Jersey-based ADPEmployer Services showed today. The median forecast of 38economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 140,000 advance.

The hiring gains, which were led by companies with fewer than500 workers, will help shore up consumer confidence and spending,which in turn will bolster economic growth. A Labor Departmentreport on Oct. 5 may show private payrolls increased by 128,000 inSeptember and unemployment rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent theprior month, according to the Bloomberg survey median.

“Small and medium-size firms continue to be the driving forcebehind job growth,” Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist atJefferies & Co. Inc. in New York, said in a research note.“Hiring at startup and small firms will continue to be the key tothe sustainability of the labor market recovery going forward.”

Stock-index futures rose after the report. The contract on theStandard & Poor's 500 Index maturing in December climbed 0.1percent to 1,442.6 at 9:09 a.m. in New York.

Estimates for the ADP employment figures ranged from 90,000 to190,000 in the Bloomberg survey.

Over the two years ended August, ADP's initial release hasunderstated or overstated the Labor Department's initial privatepayroll figure by an average of 66,000, according to Bloombergcalculations. The average miss by economists in the Bloombergsurvey over the same period was 58,000.

Goods-producing industries, which include manufacturers andconstruction companies, increased workers by 18,000, today's ADPfigures showed. Construction employment rose by 10,000, whilefactories employment climbed 4,000.

Service providers added 144,000 workers.

Companies employing more than 499 workers increased payrolls by17,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses, with 50 to 499 employees,added 64,000, and small companies added 81,000, ADP said.

This week's Labor Department report may show overall hiringincluding government jobs climbed by 115,000 last month afterrising 96,000 in August, according to the Bloomberg survey median.The jobless rate has held above 8 percent since February 2009, thelongest stretch since monthly records began in 1948.

Fed's Plan

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke this week renewed thecentral bank's pledge to sustain record stimulus to support thelabor market even if the U.S. expansion gains strength.

“We expect that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policywill remain appropriate for a considerable time after the economystrengthens,” Bernanke said in an Oct. 1 speech. The Federal OpenMarket Committee said last month it will buy $40 billion ofmortgage debt a month until the labor market shows “sustainedimprovement.” It also extended its horizon for low interest ratesto at least mid-2015.

The ADP report is based on data from businesses thatcollectively employ more than 21 million workers. MacroeconomicAdvisers LLC in St. Louis produces the data with ADP.

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