US private-sector employment rose by 230,000 jobs in September from August, the largest gain since February, according to the ADP National Employment Report.

The total of jobs added in September was also revised up to 168,00 from 163,000; however, it was the weakest hiring since the gain of 161,000 in October 2017.

“The labor market continues to impress,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, VP and co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Both the goods and services sectors soared. The professional and business services industry and construction served as key engines of growth. They added almost half of all new jobs this month.”

MarketWatch reported the gain was well above forecasts from economists polled by Econoday, who had expected on average an increase of 179,000.

The number of goods-producing jobs rose by 46,000 in September on gains of 34,000 construction jobs, 7,000 manufacturing jobs and 7,000 jobs in natural resources/mining.

Service-providing jobs rose by 184,000 in September, including by 70,000 jobs in professional/business services, 44,000 jobs in education/health services, and 30,000 jobs in trade/transportation/utilities. Information jobs posted the only decline in the service-job category with a loss of 3,000 jobs.

Large businesses added 75,000 jobs in September, midsize businesses added 99,000 jobs and small businesses added 56,000 jobs.

“The job market continues to power forward,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which collaborates with the ADP Research Institute to produce the report. “Employment gains are broad-based across industries and company sizes. At the current pace of job creation, unemployment will fall into the low 3%’s by this time next year.”