Workers box jars of pasta sauce at a plant run by Chelten House Products in Bridgeport, New Jersey July 27, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Spicer - RTX1NDCW

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private employers added 179,000 jobs in July, above 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 170,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from 140,000 to 190,000 jobs added.

Private payroll gains in the month earlier were revised up to 176,000 from an originally reported 172,000 increase.

The report is jointly developed with Moody’s Analytics.

The ADP figures come ahead of the U.S. Labor Department’s more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which includes both public and private-sector employment.

Economists polled by Reuters are looking for U.S. private payroll employment to have grown by 170,000 jobs in July, down from 265,000 the month before. Total non-farm employment is expected to have risen by 180,000.