U.S. private payrolls rise strongly
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The ADP national employment report showed private sector employment rose by 234,000 jobs in January, beating economists' expectations for an increase of only 185,000. December's payrolls count was revised down to 242,000 from 250,000.
Manufacturing added 12,000 jobs last month and construction payrolls increased 9,000 despite bitterly cold temperatures in many parts of the country. There were also widespread job gains in the private services sector.
The ADP report is jointly produced with Moody's Analytics. It, however, has a poor record predicting the private payrolls component of the government' more comprehensive employment report.
The Department of Labor will publish January's employment report on Friday. ■