WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Private-sector hiring picked up slightly in September, marking the sixth consecutive month of job gains above-200,000, a sign of strong and steady growth, according to a report released Wednesday.

Last month, private-sector employers added 213,000 jobs, up from 202,000 in August, Automatic Data Processing Inc. said. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a September gain of 209,000, compared with an originally reported increase of 204,000 in August.

“Especially encouraging most recently is the increasingly broad base nature of those gains. Nearly all industries and companies of all sizes are adding consistently to payrolls,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, which prepares the report for ADP.

A vibrant labor market is key for a strengthening economy. But certain sectors, like housing, won’t gear up until the employment environment delivers consistent and sustainable growth for jobs and wages, economists say.

Economists use ADP’s data to get a feeling for the U.S. Labor Department’s employment report, which will be released Friday and covers government jobs in addition to the private sector. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect the government’s report to show that total nonfarm employment rose by 220,000 jobs in September, after adding just 142,000 positions in August.

The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring the labor market, looking to avoid hurting job growth . However, observers shouldn’t read too much into recent low labor-market readings, economists say. The strong ADP report hints that recent weakness in the government’s data could be revised to better growth, economists said Wednesday after the data were released.

And some stumbling in the jobs data doesn’t change the bigger picture of a labor market that is strengthening over time. During the quarter that ended in August, the economy gained an average of 207,000 jobs per month, up from 184,000 in the year-earlier period, according to government data.

“Stepping back, 200,000 on employment is consistent with 3% GDP growth and is more than enough to continue pushing the unemployment rate down,” said Neil Dutta, head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro Research.

Other recent data, such as a solid bounce back for consumer spending in August, looked promising. And weekly readings on jobless claims are near lows hit before the recession, signaling that employers are laying off few workers.

“Although payrolls are an important factor for the economy, monthly changes often are at odds with other broad measures of activity,” economists with Citigroup Global Markets wrote in a research note late week.

According to ADP, private-sector service providers added 155,000 jobs last month, and goods producers added 58,000 spots. Small businesses added 88,000 jobs, large businesses added 77,000 jobs and medium businesses added 48,000 jobs.