In an upbeat sign for the U.S. labor market, payroll processor Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) released a report on Wednesday showing that private sector employment increased by more than expected in the month of December.
ADP said the private sector added 238,000 jobs in December following an upwardly revised increase of 229,000 jobs in November.
Economists had expected an increase of about 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 215,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The private sector job growth in December reflected the strongest growth since employment jumped by 276,000 jobs in November of 2012.
"The job market ended 2013 on a high note," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics. "Job growth meaningfully accelerated and is now over 200,000 per month."
He added, "Job gains are broad-based across industries, most notably in construction and manufacturing. It appears that businesses are growing more confident and increasing their hiring."
The report said service-providing industries added 170,000 jobs in December, reflecting a modest slowdown from the addition of 182,000 jobs in November.
Employment in goods-producing industries rose by 69,000 jobs in December following an increase of 46,000 jobs in November. ADP said the construction sector had its best month since 2006, adding 48,000 jobs.
The better than expected private sector data may generate some optimism about the outlook for Friday's monthly jobs report from the Labor Department, which includes both public and private sector jobs.
Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said, "We're not entirely convinced by the ADP's usefulness as a leading indicator of non-farm payrolls but, to the extent it can be trusted, it supports our existing forecast that the official figures will show a 200,000 gain."
The consensus estimate also calls for an increase of 200,000 jobs in December following an increase of 203,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 7.0 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.