Today's mortgage rate will be UP.
Private sector adds record 297,000 jobs in December: ADP
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private employers added 297,000 jobs in December, the
biggest increase since at least 2001, compared with a revised gain of 92,000
in November, a private report showed on Wednesday.
The median estimate from 27 economists surveyed by Reuters for the ADP
Employer Services report was for a rise of 100,000 private-sector jobs in
December.
The November figure was originally reported as a gain of 93,000.
U.S. stock index futures pared losses after the data, while U.S. Treasury
prices fell, and the dollar extended gains against the yen and euro.
"We've been building toward a big number ... That's pointing to a big
payroll number ahead, and I think we'll get a big healthy report on Friday,"
said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group
in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The ADP figures came ahead of the government's much more comprehensive labor
market report coming on Friday, which will include both public and private
sector employment.
That report is expected to show a rise in overall nonfarm payrolls of 140,
000 in December, based on a Reuters poll of analysts, but a rise in private
payrolls of 145,000.
Economists often use the ADP report to fine-tune their forecasts for the
payrolls numbers, though it is not always accurate in predicting the outcome.
The ADP report is jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch, additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica
; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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