ADP Says Companies in U.S. Added 215,000 Workers in December
By Shobhana Chandra - Jan 3, 2013 8:38 AM ET
Companies added more workers than projected in December, indicating the U.S. job market finished 2012 with momentum, according to a private report based on payrolls.
The 215,000 increase in employment was the largest since February and followed a revised 148,000 gain the prior month that was larger than initially reported, figures from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Research Institute showed today. The median forecast of 36 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a December advance of 140,000.
Sustained growth in hiring would help generate the wage gains needed to spur consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy. A Labor Department report tomorrow may show private payrolls rose by 150,000 last month, and unemployment held at an almost four-year low, according to the Bloomberg survey median.
“The job market held firm in December despite the intensifying fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc., said in a statement. Moody’s produces the figures with ADP. “Businesses even became somewhat more aggressive in their hiring at year end.”
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 70,000 to 210,000. The prior month’s employment was previously reported as an increase of 118,000. ADP had estimated that superstorm Sandy reduced payrolls in November by about 86,000.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-03/adp-says-companies-in-u-s-added-215-000-workers-in-december.html
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