Employment in the U.S. private sector saw continued growth in the month of January, according to a report released by payroll processor Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) on Wednesday, although the pace of job growth saw a notable slowdown compared to December.
ADP said employment in the non-farm private business sector rose by 170,000 jobs in January following a revised increase of 292,000 jobs in December.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 172,000 jobs compared to the addition of 325,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said, "Bottom line, the 170,000 figure compares to the 2011 monthly average of 160,000 and thus points to a continued recovery, but the mediocre pace this far into a recovery still remains frustrating."
The continued private sector job growth in the month of January reflected a notable increase in employment in the service-providing sector, which added 152,000 jobs.
Employment in the goods-producing sector showed a more modest increase of 18,000 jobs in January, with manufacturing employment rising by 10,000 jobs.
The report also showed that the bulk of the job growth continued to be at small and medium-size businesses, which added 95,000 jobs and 72,000 jobs, respectively. Employment at large businesses edged up by just 3,000 jobs.
ADP noted that the construction industry added 2,000 jobs in January, while employment in the financial services sector increased by 9,000 jobs.
Friday morning, the Labor Department is due to release its closely watched monthly employment report, which includes both private and public sector jobs.
Economists expect employment to increase by about 150,000 jobs in January, with a drop in public sector jobs partly offsetting continued job growth in the private sector. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 8.5 percent.
The Labor Department said employment increased by 200,000 jobs in December, pushing the unemployment rate down to a nearly three-year low.
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