ADP Says Private Sector Adds 192,000 Jobs in January

Payroll processor ADP reported in its National Employment Report on Wednesday that the U.S. added 192,000 new private sector jobs in January from December on a seasonally adjusted basis, paced by small business job growth.  Meanwhile, ADP downwardly revised its December estimate from 215,000 to 185,000 new jobs.

ADP said that small businesses (1-49 employees) added 115,000 new jobs and medium businesses (50-499 employees) increased their staffs by 79,000 people.  Large businesses (500 or more employees) decreased their work forces by 2,000 during the month, according to the report.

By sector, service providers added 177,000 jobs while goods producers added 15,000.  By industry, professional/business services paced the gains with 40,000 additions, followed by trade/transportation/utilities (+33,000), financial activities (+12,000) and construction (+15,000), while manufacturers shed 3,000 positions.

“U.S. private sector employment got off to a good start in 2013, as 192,000 jobs were added during the month of January,” said Carlos A. Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of ADP. “According to the ADP National Employment Report, private sector employers created an average of 183,000 new jobs per month during the last three months. This is an encouraging sign of steady improvement in the job market.”

Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi added that monthly jobs gains appear to have accelerated from about 150,000 to closer to 175,000 and that construction is finally “kicking into gear” to offset softness in manufacturing.

The monthly report, which is formulated in collaboration with Moody’s Analytics, tracks changes in private, non-farms payrolls from month to month to try and gauge the final figure after three revisions by the Labor Department of government’s monthly private payroll figure as part of its monthly jobs report.  Last month ADP originally said 215,000 jobs were added in December, while the government reported 168,000 in its first estimate.

The government’s January employment report is due on Friday.  Economists expect the Labor Department to say that 163,000 new non-farm jobs were added during January.