(Bloomberg). U.S. businesses added workers at a healthy pace in November. It suggests employers continue to invest heavily in filling the near record number of vacant positions.

Businesses’ payrolls increased by last month after a 570,000 gain in October, according to ADP Research Institute data released Wednesday. A Bloomberg survey of economists predicted a rise in payrolls by 525,000.

This data suggests steady improvement in a labor marketplace where skill mismatches as well job switching and other pandemic-related variables are making it harder for employers attract and keep workers. ADP still measures total employment at a level well below that of pre-pandemic. The emerging omicron variation poses a threat to participation in the labor force. 

The data precede Friday’s monthly employment report from the Labor Department, which is forecast to show that private payrolls increased by 525,000 in November.

“The labor market recovery continued to power through its challenges last month,” Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Service providers, which are more vulnerable to the pandemic, have dominated job gains this year. It’s too early to tell if the omicron variant could potentially slow the jobs recovery in coming months.”

The November increase in service provider employment was led by hospitality and leisure. Professional and business services employment rose at the fastest rate since June 2020. The strong growth in transportation employment was also evident.

The 110,000 increase in the number of employees at good producers reflects significant gains in construction and manufacturing.

In November, 277,000 more people were employed by companies employing at least 500 employees. The gain for small businesses was 115,000

ADP’s payroll data represent firms employing nearly 26 million workers in the U.S.

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