The U.S. economy added 246,000 private, non-farm jobs in December, according to the monthly employment report released this morning by payroll-management firm ADP and its partner Moody's Analytics. The seasonally adjusted result is a 62 percent increase from December's downwardly revised 151,000 jobs, and 42 percent higher than the previous January, when 173,000 jobs were created.
“The U.S. labor market is hitting on all cylinders and we saw small and midsized businesses perform exceptionally well,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and head of the ADP Research Institute. “Further analysis shows that services gains have rebounded from their tepid December pace, adding 201,000 jobs.”
Mid-sized businesses consisting of 50 to 499 employees saw the biggest employment gains in January, with 102,000 jobs added, followed by large companies with 1,000 employees or more, with 63,000 jobs added. Only 12 percent (31,000) of payroll additions in January occurred at businesses with fewer than 50 employees, up one basis-point from December. Within that figure, firms employing fewer than 20 individuals adding 30,000 jobs last month, following contraction in December.
Yildirmaz also noted that the goods producing sector experienced the strongest job growth seen in two years during January, adding 46,000 jobs.
After a volatile pattern of growth and contraction over the past five months, the construction sector rebounded in January, adding 25,000 jobs. After losing 16,000 jobs in December, the goods-producing sector added 46,000 jobs in total, with 15,000 of those jobs added in manufacturing. The professional and business services sector—which includes architecture and engineering firms—continued its steady growth, creating 71,000 new payroll positions during the same period.
“2017 got off to a strong start in the job market," Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said. "Job growth is solid across most industries and company sizes. Even the energy sector is adding to payrolls again.”
ADP's national employment report is often used to gauge the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, which will be released this Friday. For more information, read the full employment report from ADP.
