By Kathleen Madigan
Led by small business hiring, U.S. businesses added jobs at a
quick pace last month, according to a tally of hiring released
Wednesday.
Private-sector payrolls in the U.S. increased by 238,000
positions in December in the national employment report compiled by
payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) and
forecasting firm Moody's Analytics.
The gain is the highest ADP estimate since November 2012.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected ADP to
report a December increase of 200,000 jobs. The November ADP
employment increase was revised up to 229,000 from 215,000 reported
a month ago.
"Job gains are broad-based across industries, most notably in
construction and manufacturing," the report said. "It appears that
businesses are growing more confident and increasing their
hiring."
The ADP estimate is released ahead of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics' employment situation report scheduled for Friday.
Economists expect the BLS report will show a job gain of 191,000
in December, a bit slower than the 203,000 slots created in
November but on par with the average of the past five months.
Forecasters also expect December jobless rate to hold at
7.0%.
A strong employment report would support expectations that the
Federal Reserve will continue to wind down its bond-buying program
this year. An expectedly large miss on the payrolls gain, however,
might raise questions among investors about the course of future
Fed policy.
The ADP report suggests Friday's number will be close to or
above the 191,000 gain expected.
According to ADP, firms employing between one to 49 workers
hired 108,000 new workers last month. Medium-sized businesses with
payrolls of 50-499 workers increased payrolls by 59,000 employees.
Large companies, businesses with 500 or more employees, hired
71,000 more workers.
Service-sector payrolls increased by 170,000 slots last month,
while the factory sector added 19,000 new positions. Construction
payrolls increased by 48,000 slots.
In other labor-related news, job-search website Bright.com
estimates 165,000 net jobs were created in December. The company
uses its aggregation of job postings to estimate the payrolls
number.
ADP, of Roseland, N.J., offers payroll processing, human
resource and benefit adminstration services to about 600,000
clients worldwide. Economics firm Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary
of Moody's Corporation (MCO).
Write to Kathleen Madigan at kathleen.madigan@wsj.com