Private-sector employers added 90,000 jobs in September, topping economists’ forecasts and marking a rebound after a three-month slowdown, ADP reported.

Payroll processing firm ADP said companies across the United States hired more workers than expected last month, with the gain landing well above the 70,000 jobs economists had projected. The figure also topped the prior month’s revised total of 36,000.

Fox Business reported the ADP numbers on Wednesday, pointing to broad hiring strength and solid pay growth even as the Labor Department’s official nonfarm payrolls report still loomed for Friday morning.

ADP chief economist Nela Richardson called the results clear.

"It's a strong report,"

She added:

"After a three-month slowdown, job creation rebounded and pay growth remained solid."

Hiring concentrated in health, leisure, manufacturing, and construction

Education and health services led the way, adding 55,000 positions. Leisure and hospitality followed with 22,000. Manufacturing added 17,000 jobs. Construction added 15,000.

Other services gained 6,000. Information rose by 3,000. Trade, transportation and utilities stayed flat.

Not every sector expanded. Financial activities lost 16,000 jobs. Professional and business services shed 11,000. Natural resources and mining dropped 1,000 positions.

Mid-size firms did the heavy lifting

Businesses with 50 to 499 employees hired 54,000 workers. Establishments with fewer than 50 employees gained 23,000 jobs. Large businesses with 500 or more employees gained 34,000 jobs in August, per the ADP breakdown as reported.

Small businesses alone accounted for 23,000 of the September hires.

Paychecks kept climbing

Base pay rose 3.2% year over year. Gross pay was up 4.7%. Workers saw real dollar gains even as the pace of hiring recovered from its recent soft stretch.

Government data due Friday morning was expected to show an increase of 84,000 positions, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.1%. Officials and markets still watch that report closely because ADP and Labor Department figures can diverge. July’s government data had shown an unexpected loss of 23,000 jobs.

The private-sector rebound lands against that uneven backdrop. After the three-month slowdown Richardson described, September’s 90,000 gain and the industry splits show employers still adding workers in core service and goods-producing fields.

Private payrolls just delivered a stronger month than Wall Street expected, and workers kept seeing their pay rise with it.