Private businesses added 162K jobs last month, survey says CNBC's Steve Liesman breaks down the latest ADP employment numbers and discusses what it indicates about the economy, with Joel Prakken, Macroeconomic Advisers chairman. U.S. private employers added 162,000 jobs in September, topping 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 143,000 jobs. The report is widely watched by economists, investors and others as a harbinger for the crucial monthly employment data coming from the government Friday, even though the two reports sometimes differ widely. That report, which includes public and private hiring, is expected to show job growth improved slightly, with employers adding 113,000 jobs. Private payrolls are seen rising by 130,000. "At 162,000, the ADP employment report was pretty close to expectations, though the number has done terribly at predicting anything," said John Briggs, director/markets at RBS. August's private payrolls were revised down to an increase of 189,000 from the previously reported 201,000. The report is jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC. "This is consistent with a moderate pace of job growth and we still haven't made much headway with the losses during the downturn," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida. We would like to see growth on the order of 200,000 to 250,000. U.S. stock index futures added to gains immediately after the data, while the dollar edged higher against the yen.