NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private employers added more jobs than expected last month, though the lack of robust labor market growth reinforced the Federal Reserve's view that economic progress will likely be "frustratingly slow."
While the central bank nodded to stronger economic growth in the third quarter, the Fed also cut its forecast for growth and raised its predictions for unemployment.
The gloomier unemployment view came ahead of Friday's key nonfarm payrolls report and after data on Wednesday showed the private sector added 110,000 jobs in October.
The ADP National Employment Report topped economists' expectations for a gain of 101,000 jobs. ADP also increased September's job additions to a gain of 116,000 from the previously reported 91,000.
"You're more or less treading water here, just enough to keep the unemployment rate steady," Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida, said of recent jobs data.
"We would really like to see stronger growth to get the unemployment rate down substantially, but the Fed is not expecting that to happen any time soon."
In its updated quarterly projections, the Fed said it expects the economy will expand by a tepid 2.5 percent to 2.9 percent next year, down from the 3.3 percent to 3.7 percent it had expected in June.
Officials saw the unemployment rate going no lower than 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent by the end of 2012, up from the 7.8 percent to 8.2 percent range seen in June.
Fears the U.S. economy could be heading for another recession have ebbed in recent months as growth accelerated in the third quarter after a weak first-half performance.
